The domestic equity barometers traded in a narrow range near the day's low in mid-morning trade. At 11:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 399.78 points or 0.84% to 47,010.15. The Nifty 50 index lost 110.05 points or 0.79% to 13,857.45.

The January 2021 F&O contracts will expire today, 28 January 2021. Global cues were weak as a rise in the volatility index (VIX) worried investors. Rising coronavirus cases and uneven distribution of vaccine rollouts also triggered selling pressure.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the U.S. economy was a long way from full recovery and still short of policy makers' inflation and job goals. The central banker made it clear that the U.S. central bank was nowhere near exiting massive support for the economy during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, as officials left their benchmark interest rate unchanged near zero.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.07% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was trading flat.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1385 shares rose and 1153 shares fell. A total of 136 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 100,850,283 with 2,173,938 deaths. India reported 173,740 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 153,847 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

A total of 23,28,779 beneficiaries have so far been vaccinated for COVID-19 through 41,599 sessions held till the evening of January 27, the twelfth day of the immunisation drive, according to a provisional report of the Union Health Ministry.

Primary Market:

The initial public offer (IPO) of Stove Kraft received bids for 2.19 crore shares as against 58.94 lakh shares on offer on Thursday (28 January 2021), according to the stock exchange data at 11:15 IST. The issue was subscribed 1.47 times. The issue opened for subscription on Monday (25 January 2021) and it will close today (28 January 2021).

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index rose 0.54% to 10,265.70. The index has lost 2.9% in the past two sessions.

Tata Motors (up 1.51%), Hero MotoCorp (up 1%), Eicher Motors (up 0.85%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.67%), Maruti Suzuki (up 0.67%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.05%) advanced.

Bharat Forge (down 1.24%), TVS Motor Company (down 0.28%) and Ashok Leyland (down 0.43%) declined.

Earnings impact:

Tata Coffee rose 1.70% to Rs 113.45 after consolidated net profit jumped 26.59% to Rs 31.52 crore on 6.3% increase in net sales to Rs 532.76 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. Consolidated total income was driven by improved performance from the group's value-added businesses.

Quess Corp added 2.30% to Rs 560.70 after consolidated net profit tanked 39.1% to Rs 45.58 crore on 4.8% fall in net sales to Rs 2,807.89 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019. EBITDA margin stood at 5.37% in Q3 FY21 as against 6.08% in Q3 FY20.

JK Paper declined 1.11% to Rs 124.90 after consolidated net profit tanked 51% to Rs 64.59 crore on 9.2% fall in net sales to Rs 744.88 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Lakshmi Machine Works gained 0.89% to Rs 5135 after the company's consolidated net profit zoomed 10 times to Rs 33.26 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 3.26 crore in Q3 FY20. Net sales jumped 49.4% to Rs 478.56 crore in Q3 FY21 from Rs 320.33 crore in Q3 FY20.

Global Markets:

Most Asian declined on Thursday following an overnight plunge on Wall Street. Japan's retail sales declined 0.3% year-on-year in December, according to data released by the country's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

US stocks suffered their biggest one-day percentage drop in three months on Wednesday, adding to losses after the latest Fed statement as major indexes were also pressured by a slump in Boeing and a selling of long positions by hedge funds.

The U.S. Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate anchored near zero following the conclusion of its two-day meeting Wednesday. The Fed also said it will keep buying at least $120 billion of bonds a month.

In his post-meeting news conference, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said that the economy is a long way from our monetary policy and inflation goals, and it's likely to take some time for substantial further progress to be achieved.

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