Indices trade lower; FMCG shares climb

Business Standard

3 days ago

The key equity indices continued to trade with limited losses in mid-afternoon trade amid weak global cues. Investors will closely monitor key events such as the RBI MPC meeting and global trade developments. The Nifty traded below the 24,750 mark.
FMCG shares jumped after declining in the past four trading sessions.
At 14:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 177.10 points or 0.22% to 81,273.91. The Nifty 50 index fell 47.80 points or 0.20% to 24,701.70.
The broader market outperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.51% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.42%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2,064 shares rose and 1,992 shares fell. A total of 186 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India's GDP growth touched a four-quarter high of 7.4% in Q4 FY25, with full-year growth ending at 6.5%, according to data released by the government post-market hours Friday. The GDP growth, higher than the previous quarter's 6.4%, was lower than the 8.4% growth logged in Q4 FY24.
Meanwhile, Indias fiscal deficit for FY25 stood at 4.8% of GDP, meeting the revised estimate, according to data released by the Comptroller General of Accounts on Friday. The central governments fiscal deficit stood at Rs 15.77 lakh crore, or 100.5% of the revised annual target, compared with 95.4% a year before.
Further, the seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) declined to 57.6 in May 2025, down from 58.2 in April 2025, highlighting the weakest improvement in operating conditions since February. The headline figure was nevertheless well above both the neutral mark of 50.0 and its long-run average of 54.1.
Panelists suggested that demand strength continued to support sales and production, though competition, inflation, and the India-Pakistan conflict had reportedly weighed on growth.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty FMCG index added 0.68% to 55,661.30. The index fell 3.1% in the past four trading session.
Godrej Consumer Products (up 2.76%), Patanjali Foods (up 2.33%), Britannia Industries (up 1.72%), United Breweries (up 1.71%), Varun Beverages (up 1.36%), United Spirits (up 1.35%), Tata Consumer Products (up 1.16%), Hindustan Unilever (up 0.92%), Colgate-Palmolive (India) (up 0.64%) and Radico Khaitan (up 0.48%) advanced.
Numbers to Track:
The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper added 0.27% to 6.227 from previous close of 6.200.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.4175, compared with its close of 85.5550 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 5 August 2025 settlement rose 1.53% to Rs 97,345.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.51% to 98.82.
The United States 10-year bond yield added 0.72% to 4.447.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for August 2025 settlement rose $1.76 or 2.80% to $64.54 a barrel.
Stocks in Spotlight:
NMDC shed 0.20%. The company has reported a 89.31% rise in iron ore production in May 2025 to 4.43 million tonnes (MT), compared to 2.34 MT recorded in the same month of the previous year.
FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa) declined 4.35% after the companys consolidated net profit fell 22.36% to Rs 20.28 crore on 9.06% fall in revenue from operations to Rs 2,061.76 crore in Q4 FY25 over Q3 FY25.