At 14:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 215.89 points or 0.29% to 73,798.66. The Nifty 50 index shed 45.90 points or 0.19% to 22,418.75.

The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index added 1.01% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 1.20%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 2,716 shares rose and 1,055 shares fell. A total of 119 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) climbed to a 16-year high of 59.1 in March, from 56.9 in February.

The notable improvement in operating conditions reflected stronger growth of new orders, output and input stocks as well as renewed job creation.

The HSBC India PMI climbed to a 16-year high on the back of the strongest increases in output and new orders since October 2020, parallel to the second-sharpest upturn in input inventories in the history of the survey. Employment returned to positive territory and firms scaled up buying levels. There was a mild pick-up in cost pressures during March, but customer retention remained a priority for goods producers who raised their charges to the least extent in over a year, the press release stated.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Oil & Gas Index rose 0.91% to 11,604.50. The index rallied 6.31% in the eight trading session.

Oil India (up 4.69%), Castrol India (up 3.77%), Indian Oil Corporation (up 2.81%), Petronet LNG (up 2.69%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 2.5%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 1.6%), Indraprastha Gas (up 1.1%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 0.96%), Mahanagar Gas (up 0.82%) and Gujarat State Petronet (up 0.49%) advanced.

On the other hand, Gujarat Gas (down 1.17%), Aegis Logistics (down 1.02%) and Reliance Industries (down 0.5%) edged lower.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper was up 0.38% to 7.079 as compared with previous close 7.078.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged higher against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 83.3675, compared with its close of 83.3925 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2024 settlement rose 0.45% to Rs 68,594.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was up 0.02% to 105.04.

The United States 10-year bond yield shed 0.37% to 4.312.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for June 2024 settlement added 98 cents or 1.12% to $88.40 a barrel.

Stocks in spotlight:

Aeroflex Industries jumped 4.96% after the company said that its board has approved to acquire 100% of the issued and paid-up share capital of Hyd-Air Engineering from the existing shareholders of the investee company.

NMDC rose 0.94%. The state-owned miner's iron ore production de-grew by 13.21% to 4.86 million tonnes (MT) in March 2024 as against 5.60 MT in March 2023.

South Indian Bank slipped 4.19%. The private lender said that its gross advances jumped 11.44% to Rs 80,337 crore as of 31 March 2024 as against Rs 72,092 crore as of 31 March 2023.