The domestic equity benchmarks were trading lower in the early trade on selling pressure in index pivotals. The Nifty traded below the 16,790 mark. Pharma, metal and media stocks advanced while IT, realty and auto shares corrected. Investors were cautious ahead of Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s policy announcement due later today.

At 09:29 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 157.87 points or 0.28% to 56,252.09. The Nifty 50 index declined 37.75 points or 0.22% to 16,780.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.25% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.06%.

The market breadth was just about positive. On the BSE, 1,275 shares rose and 1,273 shares fell. A total of 115 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,599.42 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 3,161.73 crore in the Indian equity market on 29 September, provisional data showed.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)'s six-member Monetary Policy Committee began on 28 September 2022. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the MPC decision today, 30 September 2022, the last date of the meeting. The RBI is widely expected to maintain the balancing act between growth and inflation.

In the past three policy reviews, the RBI's rate-setting panel has raised 140 basis points in total since May this year. Currently, the repo rate, the interest rate at which the RBI lends to the commercial bank, stands at 5.40%.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hero MotoCorp rose 0.27%. The two-wheeler major is finalizing a collaboration agreement with Zero Motorcycles, the California (USA)-based manufacturer of premium electric motorcycles and powertrains. The collaboration will focus on codeveloping Electric motorcycles. The company's board also approved an equity investment up to US$60 million in Zero Motorcycles.

Tata Communications added 0.42%. The company launched a dedicated Private 5G Global Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Pune to accelerate Industry 4.0 applications and capabilities for enterprises.

Lupin advanced 2.12% after the company announced that it has received an approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA), Mirabegron Extended-Release Tablets, 25 mg and 50 mg, to market a generic equivalent of Myrbetriq Extended-Release Tablets, 25 mg and 50 mg, of Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc.

Punjab National Bank (PNB) rose 1.87%. The board of the bank has decided to sell the bank's entire stake in M/s Asset Reconstruction Company (India) Ltd (ARCIL) at an agreed price.

SRF slipped 3.18%. The project at Dahej has been commissioned and capitalized on 29 September 2022 at an aggregate cost of Rs. 58 crore.

Ircon International (IRCON) gained 1.02%. IRCON has completed commissioning of doubling work of Hajipur- Bachhwara of 72 Route Km including electrification. IRCON was appointed by East Central Railways for this work.

Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) rose 1.37%. RVNL has been awarded contract for construction of 4 Lane highway from Samarlakota to Achampeta Junction (for 12.25 km) by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) under Bharatmala Pariyojana on EPC mode at a total awarded cost of Rs. 408 crore.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks are trading mixed on Friday, following another sell-off on Wall Street overnight.

China's official factory activity data unexpectedly expanded in August, beating estimates. China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index surprisingly grew in September to 50.1. The official non-manufacturing PMI came in at 50.6 in September, down from 52.6 in August.

Wall Street ended sharply lower on Thursday on worries that the US Federal Reserve's aggressive fight against inflation could hobble the US economy, and as investors fretted about a rout in global currency and debt markets.

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