The domestic equity benchmarks ended with limited losses after a weak session on Friday. The Nifty closed below the 18,500 level after hitting the day's high of 18,664.70 in early trade. FMCG, pharma and healthcare stocks edged higher while IT, realty and PSU bank shares witnessed significant selling pressure. 

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 389.01 points or 0.62% to 62,181.67. The Nifty 50 index lost 112.75 points or 0.61% to 18,496.60. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.45% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1%. 

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1221 shares rose and 2299 shares fell. A total of 121 shares were unchanged. 

Investor sentiment was filled with optimism after China scaled back several anti-COVID movement curbs and testing measures this week, amid growing public ire towards the strict zero-COVID policy. The move drove up bets that the world's second-largest economy will recover sharply amid fewer COVID disruptions. 

The U.S. producer price index, due later on Friday, is expected to show that inflation faced by the manufacturing sector eased further in November. The reading is also expected to herald a similar trend in the more closely watched consumer price index, which is due to be released next week. A higher than anticipated inflation could invite more interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, given that the bank has signaled that its stance on monetary policy will be largely driven by the path of inflation. 

The Nifty IT index fell 3.14% to 29,168.45. The index has declined 6.27% in six sessions. 

HCL Technologies Ltd down 6.68%,Mphasis Ltd down 3.96%, Tech Mahindra Ltd down 3.71%, Persistent Systems Ltd down 3.54% and LTI Mindtree Ltd down 3.48% were the top losers. 

Among the other losers were Infosys Ltd (down 3.14%), L&T Technology Services Ltd (down 3.09%), Coforge Ltd (down 2.78%), Wipro Ltd (down 2.4%) and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (down 1.81%). 

Stocks in Spotlight: 

Vedanta declined 1.63%. The mining company said that its board has approved issuing upto 8,000 unsecured, rated, listed, redeemable, non-convertible debentures having a face value of Rs 10 lakh each aggregating up to Rs 800 crore (base issue size of Rs 500 crore and green shoe option of up to an additional Rs 300 crore). 

Bajaj Consumer Care gained 0.65%. The company announced that its board approved share buyback upto Rs 80.89 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 240 per share through open market route. 

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) shed 0.71%. The EPC major said that its wholly owned subsidiary, Larsen & Toubro International FZE (LTIFZE) has entered into a share purchase agreement to purchase stake in OPRO.AI INC., a Delaware Corporation. 

State Bank of India (SBI) added 0.78%. SBI said that its board will meet on Wednesday, 14 December 2022 to consider the proposal of fund raising by way of issuance of Basel III compliant debt instruments through a public offer or private placement basis. 

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose 0.47%. HUL announced its strategic investments in Zywie Ventures (OZiva) and Nutritionalab (Wellbeing Nutrition). HUL will acquire 51% equity stake in OZiva through a combination of primary infusion and secondary buyouts. The balance 49% will be acquired at the end of 36 months based on pre-agreed valuation criteria. HUL will acquire 19.8% equity stake in Wellbeing Nutrition through a combination of primary infusion and secondary buyouts. 

Adani Enterprises lost 0.78%. The company has acquired 10,000 (100%) equity shares of Rs. 10 each of Alluvial Mineral Resources (AMRPL) from Adani Infra (India) on 7 December 2022. AMRPL is engaged in carrying out mining of minerals & ores activities and other allied activities in any part of India or elsewhere. 

One 97 Communications jumped 7.20%. A meeting of the board of directors of the company is scheduled to be held on 13 December 2022 to consider a proposal for buyback of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company. 

KPI Green Energy declined 2%. The power generation company, through its subsidiaries, commissioned 38.76 MWp Solar power projects out of which approximately 9 MWp capacity is under captive power producer (CPP) segment and around 29.67 MWp capacity is under the independent power producer (IPP) segment of the company. 

Alembic Pharmaceuticals slipped 0.53%. The company announced that it has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) for its abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) for Desonide cream. Desonide cream is a low potency corticosteroid indicated for the relief of inflammatory and pruritic manifestations of corticosteroid-responsive dermatoses. According to IQVIA, Desonide cream has an estimated market size of $12 million for twelve months ended 30 September 2022. 

Spandana Sphoorty Financial gained 2.46%. The company said that its board has approved the allotment of 1,000 non-convertible debentures (NCDs) on a private placement basis for an aggregate consideration of Rs 100 crore. 

GMM Pfaudler declined 1.44%. The company through its wholly owned subsidiary Pfaudler GmbH, has entered into an agreement on 8 December 2022 to acquire Mixel France SAS and its wholly owned subsidiary Mixel Agitator Co. (collectively known as "Mixel"). A total consideration of 7 million euros will be paid to acquire 100% shareholding in Mixel and the transaction will be funded through a mix of internal accruals and debt. Mixel designs and manufactures customised mixing systems for a wide range of industrial applications. 

Max Financial Services shed 1.41%. The company completed the transaction for the acquisition of the balance 5.17% stake held by Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company, Japan (‘MSI'), in Max Life Insurance Company (‘Max Life'), a material subsidiary of the Company. After the transaction, the shareholding held by the company in Max Life stands increased to 87%. 

National Peroxide shed 0.94%. The company said that operations at its plant located at Kalyan, Maharashtra, are resumed from 7 December 2022 after completion of annual maintenance activities.