| The domestic equity benchmarks traded with minor losses in the morning trade. The Nifty traded below the 23,450 mark. Media shares declined after advancing in the past two trading sessions.
At 10:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 172.26 points or 0.22% to 77,037.64. The Nifty 50 index shed 54.80 points or 0.23% to 23,446.30.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.30% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.44%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,934 shares rose and 1,707 shares fell. A total of 199 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
After hitting all-time high levels following continuous gains, India’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves fell $2.922 billion to $652.895 billion during the week ended June 14, according to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
This decline follows a significant increase of $4.307 billion in the previous reporting week, which pushed the reserves to a record high of $655.817 billion after several consecutive weeks of gains.
The decrease in forex reserves was primarily driven by a reduction in foreign currency assets, which are a major component of the reserves. These assets fell by $2.097 billion, bringing the total to $574.24 billion.
Gold reserves also saw a decrease, dropping by $1.015 billion to $55.967 billion during the week. Meanwhile, the special drawing rights (SDRs) were down by $54 million, amounting to $18.107 billion. In contrast, India’s reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) increased by $245 million, reaching $4.581 billion.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index declined 1.23% to 2,014.65. The index added 1.06% in the past two trading sessions.
Sun TV Network (down 2.33%), Nazara Technologies (down 2.07%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 1.52%), Tips Industries (down 1.47%), Saregama India (down 1%), TV18 Broadcast (down 0.96%), PVR Inox (down 0.89%), Dish TV India (down 0.25%) slipped.
On the other hand, Hathway Cable & Datacom (up 1.14%) ,Network 18 Media & Investments (up 1.02%) edged higher.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) gained 2.32% after the company emerged as lowest bidder (L-1) for an EPC project from South Eastern Railway worth Rs 191.53 crore.
Sky Gold was locked in an upper circuit of 5% after its board has approved 100% acquisition of equity shares of Starmangalsutra and Sparkling Chains held by existing shareholders of the companies, by way of share swap.
Biocon shed 0.54% to Rs 343.75. The company said that its subsidiary Biocon Biologics has received approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to manufacture biosimilar Bevacizumab at its new multi-product monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) drug substance facility at Bengaluru.
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