Key equity benchmarks ended with modest losses on Friday. After trading near the flat line for most part of the session, key indices slipped in the last hour of the trade and ended near the day's low. The Nifty, however, managed to close slightly above the 12,000 mark.

Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE. The S&P BSE Sensex, fell 152.88 points or 0.37% to 41,170.12. The Nifty 50 index lost 45.05 points or 0.37% at 12,080.85.

Investors awaited more clarity on US President Donald Trump's statement ahead of his visit to India that the two countries were working on a major trade deal. Trump has said that he was not sure if the trade deal with India would be completed before the US presidential election in November.

Trump, along with First Lady Melania Trump, will reach Ahmadabad, Gujarat on Monday (24 February) for a two-day India visit. The domestic stock market will remain closed for Shivratri holiday on Friday (21 February).

The broader market advanced. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.40% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index jumped 0.51%.

The market breadth was almost even. On the BSE, 1242 shares rose and 1277 shares fell. A total of 170 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee depreciated against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 71.64, compared with its previous closing low of 71.54.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.409% compared with 6.384% in the previous trading session.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for April 2020 settlement was down 5 cents at $59.07 a barrel. The contract rose $1.37 cents or 2.37% to settle at $59.12 a barrel in Friday's trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2019 settlement was up 0.23% at Rs 41,682.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Thursday despite a slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus in mainland China.

China cut the loan prime rate on Thursday. The 1-year LPR was reduced by 10 basis points, while the 5-year LPR saw a 5 basis points deduction.

In US, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq finished at all-time highs on Wednesday as investors were encouraged by comments from the Federal Reserve and measures China says it has taken to help coronavirus-stricken businesses.

Minutes from the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting showed that Fed officials believe the US economy appeared stronger in late January than they had been expecting.

Chinese officials have said the rate of new cases has begun to ebb, but the World Health Organization has recommended caution.

Investors also appeared heartened by comments from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which reportedly said Beijing would help companies to identify weak links in supply chains.

Buzzing Indian Segment:

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.73% to 16,649.40, underperforming the other sectoral indices on the NSE. The index rose 0.78% in the previous three sessions.

TCS (down 1.75%), Hexaware Technologies (down 1.58%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.36%), Wipro (down 0.81%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.65%) and Infosys (down 0.5%) declined.

The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 1% to 2,168.95, outperforming the other sectoral indices on the NSE. The index has risen 1.91% in two sessions.

Bank of Baroda (up 1.48%), Punjab National Bank (up 0.28%), Union Bank of India (up 0.45%), Central Bank of India (up 0.89%) and United Bank of India (up 0.39%) advanced.

State Bank of India (SBI) rose 2.31%. The initial public offer of SBI Cards and Payment Services will open for subscription from 2 to 5 March 2020. The company plans to issue new shares worth Rs 500 crore and will offer up to 13.05 crore shares as offer for sale. It is second largest credit card issuer in India.

Stocks in Spotlight:

GAIL (India) slipped 0.46%. The company said it has to pay Rs 1,83,076 crore as AGR dues and penalties derived in provisional assessment orders by the department of telecommunications (DoT) is legally not tenable. The company also said it has filed a plea at the Supreme Court to seek clarification on the orders passed.

Asian Paints fell 2.30% at Rs 1842.85. The company's board will meet on Tuesday, 25 February, 2020, to consider second interim dividend for the financial year ending 31 March 2020. The record date will be 4 March 2020.

Axis Bank rose 0.5% at Rs 744.90 while Max Financial Services surged 9.41% to Rs 565.05.

Axis Bank, Max Financial Services and its subsidiary Max Life Insurance Company have signed a confidentiality and exclusivity arrangement to explore the possibility of the private lender entering into a long-term strategic partnership with Max Life. Max Life is currently the largest non-bank owned private life insurer in India. Max Financial Services presently holds a 72.5% stake in Max Life while Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance and Axis Bank hold 25.5% and 2% stake, respectively.

Axis Bank and Max Life have had a successful bancassurace (banca) arrangement for nearly a decade. The new premium generated through this banca arrangement has aggregated to over Rs 12,000 crore over this period, while maintaining high persistency. Both companies have invested extensively in product and need-based sales training, thereby leading to consistent increase in productivity.

Simplex Infrastructures hit an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 54. Media reports suggested that Adani Group is considering to buy an equity stake in Simplex Infrastructures. Two private equity investors have also reportedly expressed interest in the company. The proposed share sale is a part of the stressed assets resolution plan Simplex Infrastructure is preparing, the report said.

Thomas Cook (India) hit an upper circuit of 20% at Rs 49.3 after the company said its board will consider share buyback on 26 February 2020. In an exchange filing made before market hours today, the travel agency company said a meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled on Wednesday, 26 February 2020, to consider buyback of equity shares.

Sterlite Technologies rose 2.07%. The company has added new orders of Rs 1,500 crore in the beginning of 2020. The orders have range from continued business development of optical connectivity solutions, network services and software virtualization.

Infibeam Avenues rose 3.98%. The company said that it has made inroads into United States of America, the world's second largest digital payments market by revenue. The company will offer its vast array of digital payment solutions to web and mobile based small and medium enterprises (SME) largely operating in the online retail, education, hospitality and travel and tourism industry, apart from other industry verticals under the brand CCAvenue.

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