The key equity barometers ended with small losses after a volatile session on Wednesday. The Nifty closed below the 15,700 level after hitting a high of 15,783.65 in early afternoon trade. Auto, financials, and pharma stocks advanced while metal, oil & gas, and realty stocks declined.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 152.18 points or 0.29% to 52,541.39. The Nifty 50 index lost 39.95 points or 0.25% to 15,692.15.

The broader market outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.52% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.49%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,763 shares rose and 1,530 shares fell. A total of 149 shares were unchanged.

Global stocks were volatile ahead of the US Fed's decision on interest rates, which will be announced later today. Friday's red-hot inflation data from the US has raised the market expectations of an interest rate hike by 75 basis points, the largest in 28 years.

Economy:

The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to conduct 5G spectrum auction to be held by the end of next month.

The spectrum will be assigned to the successful bidders for providing 5G services to public and enterprises.

A total of 72097.85 MHz of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put to auction to be held by the end of July 2022. The auction will be held for spectrum in various Low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), Mid (3300 MHz) and High (26 GHz) frequency bands.

The auction will be held for spectrum in various low, medium and high frequency bands. It is expected that the spectrum will be utilised by telecom service providers to roll-out of 5G technology-based services capable of providing speed and capacities which would be about 10 times higher than the current 4G services.

The Central Government has nominated Anand Gopal Mahindra, Venu Srinivasan, Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel and Dr Ravindra H. Dholakia as part-time non-official directors on the Central Board of Reserve Bank of India. Anand Gopal Mahindra is the chairman of Mahindra group. Venu Srinivasan is the chairman emeritus of TVS Motor Company. Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel is the chairman of Zydus Lifescience. Ravindra Dholakia is IIM Ahmedabad's ex-faculty.

In a notification issued on Tuesday, the Central Bank said the appointment will be for a period of four years with effect from 14 June 2022 or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.87% to 11,200.95. The index had declined 2.76% in the past three sessions.

Tata Motors (up 2.09%), Balkrishna Industries (up 2.07%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1.78%), Escorts (up 1.59%) and Tube Investments of India (up 1.33%) were the top index gainers.

Among the other gainers were Bharat Forge (up 0.86%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.75%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.55%), Bosch (up 0.49%) and Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.49%).

Bajaj Auto rose 0.15%. The company said that Shekhar Bajaj has tendered his resignation as non-executive director of the company due to health reasons.

Stocks in Spotlight:

JSW Steel rose 0.30%. The steel maker's standalone crude steel production for the month of May 2022 grew 31% year-on-year to 17.89 lakh tonnes as against 13.67 lakh tonnes in May 2021.

Asian Paints advanced 0.76%. The company has subscribed to 51% of the equity share capital of Weatherseal Fenestration comprising of 10,409 equity shares of Rs 10 each at a premium of Rs 18,091 per share, issued on a preferential basis for an aggregate cash consideration of Rs 18.84 crore. Accordingly, Weatherseal Fenestration is now a subsidiary of the company.

Wipro fell 1%. The company is increasing its investment locally in Norway to help its clients capitalize on digital transformation. Within the next two years the company is looking to grow from 85 to 350 employees in Norway.

Cipla added 0.51%. The drug major received South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) approval to launch a 4-in-1 fixed-dose combination of four antiretroviral (ARV) treatments for infants and young children with HIV in South Africa.

Engineers India rose 0.68%. The company has been engaged as Project Management consultant (PMC) by Neyveli Lignite Corporation for its landmark Lignite to Methanol project, first of its kind in India.

PNB Housing Finance lost 0.47%. The company's board of directors approved the issuance of non-convertible debentures aggregating up to Rs 2,000 crore on a private placement basis.

Sukhjit Starch & Chemicals jumped 7.25%. The company has successfully commissioned Hydrogen Generating Plant from Biogas produced from biomass/ process effluent at its new manufacturing unit commissioned at Phagwara (Punjab).

Genesys International Corporation was locked in 5% upper circuit at Rs 584.30. The company received an investment of Rs 250 crore equity led by Malabar India Fund and other marquee investors. The funds have been raised for accelerating the company's 3D digital twin content program.

Global Markets:

The Dow Futures were up 143 points, indicating a positive opening in the US stocks today.

European stocks advanced across the board while Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday, as the investor community awaits the latest monetary policy decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

China's industrial output climbed 0.7% in May as compared with a year earlier, official data showed Wednesday, rising from the April's 2.9% decline. Meanwhile, retail sales in May fell 6.7% year-on-year.

However, as Beijing saw clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks, the Beijing authorities warned on Tuesday that the city was in a race against time, adding to worries that the resumption of stringent curbs could hurt its economy and global supply chain.

U.S. stock indexes had a mixed Tuesday on fears that red-hot inflation will prompt more aggressive rate increases from the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 tumbled 0.38% to close at 3,735.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 151.91 points, or 0.5%, to settle at 30,364.83. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.18% to finish at 10,828.35.

Recession fears in the US continued to loom large ahead of the US Fed's policy outcome due on Wednesday. A major foreign brokerage has reportedly forecast a 75-basis point (bp) interest rate hike from the Fed's June policy meeting on Wednesday. A 75-bp hike would reportedly be the biggest since 1994.

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