The domestic equity benchmarks ended the week with minor cuts. Volatility was high due to release of economic data and corporate earnings. Market edged lower in three out of five trading sessions in the week. The Nifty settled a tad above the 17,950 level. The World Bank slashed its growth forecasts for most countries and regions and warned that new adverse shocks could tip the global economy into a recession. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold a pre-budget meeting with economists and sectoral experts at NITI Aayog on 13 January 2023 to discuss the state of the economy and measures to accelerate growth, as per reports. The meeting will also be attended by several Union ministers. The 2023-24 Budget is set to be presented in Parliament on February 1. In the week ended on Friday, 13 January 2023, the S&P BSE Sensex lost 360.81 points or 0.60% to settle at 60,261.18. The Nifty 50 index declined 97.15 points or 0.54% to settle at 17,956.60. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.02% to settle at 25,170.97. The BSE Small-Cap index advanced 0.26% to settle at 28,858.30. Weekly Index Movement:

Domestic equity benchmark indices ended with robust gains on Monday, snapping a three-day losing streak. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 846.94 points or 1.41% to 60,747.31. The Nifty 50 index added 241.75 points or 1.35% to 18,101.20.

The market ended with deep losses on Tuesday. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 631.83 points or 1.04% to 60,115.48. The Nifty 50 index lost 187.05 points or 1.03% to 17,914.15.

The domestic equity barometers ended a choppy session near the flat line with some negative bias on Wednesday. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 9.98 points or 0.02% to 60,105.50. The Nifty 50 index shed 18.45 points or 0.10% to 17,895.70.

The key equity barometers ended with minor losses after a volatile session on Thursday, extending losses for the third straight session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex declined 147.47 points or 0.25% to 59,958.03.

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with modest gains on Friday, snapping a three-day losing streak. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex advanced 303.15 points or 0.51% to 60,261.18. The Nifty 50 index added 98.40 points or 0.55% to 17,956.60.

Economy:

India's consumer price inflation eased further to a one-year low of 5.72% in December from 5.88% the previous month, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) showed. This is the third month in a row that CPI inflation has fallen. The Food inflation eased sharply to 4.19% in December compared to 4.67% in previous month.

Meanwhile, India's factory output based on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose 7.1% year on year in the month of November, MOSPI data showed on Thursday. For the April-November period, the index grew by 5.5%. IIP had contracted by 4% YoY in October.

The provisional figures of direct tax collections up to 10 January 2023 stood at Rs 14.71 lakh crore which is 24.58% higher than the gross collections for the corresponding period of last year.

Direct Tax collection, net of refunds, stood at Rs 12.31 lakh crore which is 19.55% higher than the net collections for the corresponding period of last year. This collection is 86.68% of the total Budget Estimates of Direct Taxes for F.Y. 2022-23.

Earnings Impact:

Infosys gained 3.77%. The IT major reported 9.4% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,586 crore on a 4.9% increase in revenues to Rs 38,318 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q2 FY23. The company's net profit and revenues are higher by 13.4% and 20.2% as compared with Q3 FY22. In dollar terms, the company reported revenues of $4,659 million (up 2.3% QoQ and up 9.6% YoY) for the quarter ended 31 December 2022. In constant currency terms, the company's revenue has grown by 2.4% QoQ and by 13.7% YoY during the period under review.

Large deal TCV for the quarter was the strongest in the last 8 quarters at $3.3 billion. IT services attrition rate stood at 24.3% as of 31 December 2022 as compared with 27.1% as of 30 September 2022 and 25.5% as on 31 December 2021.

HCL Technologies added 4.37%. The IT firm reported 17.4% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 4,096 crore on a 8.2% increase in revenues to Rs 26,700 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q2 FY22. Compared with Q3 last year, the company's net profit and revenue are higher 19% and 19.6%, respectively. In dollar terms, the company's revenue stood at $3,244 million, up 5.3% QoQ and up 9% YoY.

In constant currency (cc) terms, revenue growth in Q3 FY23 was 5% QoQ and 13.1% YoY. Attrition (on the last 12-month basis) was at 21.7% in Q3 FY23 as against 23.8%% in Q2 FY23 and 19.8% in Q3 FY22.

TCS advanced 5.05%. The IT major's consolidated net profit rose 3.98% to Rs 10846 crore on 5.28% increase in net sales to Rs 58,229 crore in Q3 FY23 over Q2 FY23. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the IT major's net profit rose 11.02% and net sales rose 19.11% in Q3 FY23. TCS' workforce was at 613,974 as on 31 December 2022, a net reduction of 2,197 during the quarter. IT services attrition on an LTM basis trended down to 21.3% and is expected to fall further in the coming quarters.

The board declared a third interim dividend of Rs 8 and a special dividend of Rs 67 per share of Re 1 each of the company. The record date is 17 January 2023.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Titan Company fell 4.70%. The Tata Group company said that it witnessed healthy double digit growth in Q3FY23 despite a high base in the same period of last year with overall sales growing 12% year on year (YoY). The company said that continuing its network expansion (net), the retail presence stood at 2,362 stores at the end of the quarter.

Asian Paints added 2.33%. The paint major said that its board approved setting up a new water-based paint manufacturing facility with a capacity of 4 lakhs kilolitres per annum at an approximate investment of Rs 2,000 crore.

Tata Steel rose 4.19% after the steel maker said that the crude steel production of the India business in Q3 FY23 stood at 5 million tons and was up 4% on YoY and up 4% on QoQ basis. Deliveries of Tata Steel India were at 4.73 million tons and were up 7% YoY primarily driven by 11% growth in domestic deliveries, which also led to improvement in product mix.

JSW Steel jumped 5.12%. The Mumbai-based steel making company said that the Group's combined crude steel production for Q3 FY23 was 6.24 million tonnes, registering a growth of 17% YoY.

Tata Motors surged 7.67% after the auto major said that Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) recorded a 15% growth in wholesales to 79,591 units in Q3 FY23 over Q3 FY22. Wholesale volumes rose 5.7% sequentially, with a significant increase in New Range Rover and New Range Rover Sport production, reflecting gradual improvement in chip supplies. Retail sales for the third quarter were 84,827 units, up 5.9% YoY but down 3.7% QoQ, reflecting timing between retails and wholesales, the company stated.

Meanwhile, The Tata Motors Group global wholesales in Q3 FY23, including Jaguar Land Rover, were at 3,22,556 units, higher by 13%, as compared to Q3 FY22.

Further, Tata Passenger Electric Mobility (TPEML), a subsidiary of Tata Motors, and Ford India (FIPL) had executed a unit transfer agreement on 7 August 2022 for acquisition of Ford India's manufacturing plant situated at Sanand, Gujarat for Rs 725.70 crore. The parties have completed the transaction and TPEML has acquired the Sanand Property and the VM Plant and Machinery.

Bharti Airtel slipped 4.04% after a foreign broker downgraded the stock to underperform from overweight and slashed its target price to Rs 710 from Rs 860 earlier. The target price is at 7% discount to the ruling market price. According to the media reports, the foreign broker is of the view that delayed price recovery likely will impact telecom players. 5G rollouts drive CAPEX intensity, it said.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone shed 1.38%. The company said that the company's consortium with Israel's Gadot Chemical Tankers has completed the acquisition of HPC from the Government of Israel.

Hindalco Industries gained 5.6% after the company announced that its board has approved fund raising of upto Rs 700 crore by issuing non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on private placement basis.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries advanced 2.2% after the drug maker announced that one of its wholly-owned subsidiaries has launched a novel anti-cancer drug, Palbociclib in India for patients who have advanced breast cancer. The pharma major said that the drug will be available under the brand name of Palenotm (Palbociclib).

State Bank of lndia (SBI) shed 0.09%. The public sector bank said that the Central Government has extended the term of Challa Sreenivasulu Setty as the managing director of SBI for a period of two years, effective from 20 January 2023.

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 1.74%. The FMCG major announced on Wednesday that it has completed the acquisition of 51% shareholding of Zywie Ventures for total consideration of Rs 264.28 crore. Consequently, Zywie Ventures Private Limited has become a subsidiary of the company.

TVS Motor Company fell 2.44%. The company announced its intention to invest in Madhya Pradesh (MP) for its potential future two-wheeler and three-wheeler expansion in electric and internal combustion engine vehicles. This expansion plan entails an investment of over Rs 1,000 crores and could create direct and indirect employment in Madhya Pradesh of over 2,000 jobs.

Mahindra & Mahindra added 4.98%. The company said that the total production in the month of December 2022 was 45,009 units, up by 80% from 24,970 units produced in the same period last year.

Separately, Mahindra & Mahindra has announced the dissolution of Mahindra Tractor Assembly Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Mahindra Overseas Investment Company (Mauritius) (MOICML) which is a wholly owned subsidiary of M&M.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) advanced 3.24%. The company said that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Norway-based H2Carrier (H2C) to co-operate towards developing floating green ammonia projects for industrial-scale applications.

Further, L&T said that the Group's engineering services company, L&T Technology Services (LTTS) will acquire L&T's Smart World & Communication (SWC) business for a consideration of Rs 800 crore.

Global Markets:

Inflation in China accelerated 1.8% in December compared with a year ago as food prices rose, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed. The CPI figure was in line with expectations and higher than the previous month's reading of 1.6%.

The unemployment across the eurozone remained at a record low in November, despite slowing economic growth across the region. Joblessness stood at 6.5% in November, unchanged from October, according to data from Eurostat, totalling 10.97 million people.

ISM's non-manufacturing purchasing managers' index showed a contraction in the services sector, adding to hopes that the Federal Reserve's rate hikes are making progress in taming inflation.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday stressed the need for the central bank to be free of political influence while it tackles persistently high inflation. In a speech delivered to Sweden's Riksbank, Powell noted that stabilizing prices requires making tough decisions that can be unpopular politically.

A key gauge of US inflation posted a moderate increase in December. Excluding food and energy, the consumer price index rose 0.3% last month and was up 5.7% from a year earlier, according to a US Labor Department report on Thursday. The overall CPI fell 0.1% from the prior month, with cheaper energy costs fueling the first decline in 2 1/2 years. The measure was up 6.5% from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, the World Bank slashed its growth forecasts for most countries and regions and warned that new adverse shocks could tip the global economy into a recession. Global gross domestic product will probably increase 1.7% this year, about half the pace forecast in June, the Washington-based lender said Tuesday. The bank, which also cut its growth estimates for 2024, said persistent inflation and higher interest rates are among the key reasons. It also cited the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and a decline in investment.