After opening the day lower, Indian benchmark indices pared losses as the session progressed and ended the day lower.

Indian benchmark equity indices BSE Sensex and Nifty50 were trading with smaller cuts on Wednesday, amid muted global cues.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex closed lower by 50 points (down 0.1%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed 19 points lower (down 0.1%).

ONGC, ITC, and TCS are among the top gainers today.

Trent, Adani Ports, and Shriram Finance, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The GIFT Nifty was trading at 23,763, up by 5 points at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index and BSE SmallCap index ended 1.1% lower.

Sectoral indices were trading mixed today with stocks in the energy sector and oil & gas sector witnessing buying. Meanwhile, stocks in the power sector and finance sector witnessing selling pressure.

Max Healthcare Institute, Aegis Logistics, and Apar Industries hit their respective 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 85.90 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading marginally higher at Rs 77,648 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices were trading 0.5% higher at Rs 91,315 per 1 kg.
 

Paytm Shares Fall Over 7%

In news from the fintech sector, shares of One97 Communications, the parent company of payments aggregator Paytm, dropped by up to 7.5% to Rs 907 per share on 8 January, following UBS's report that Paytm did not gain any UPI market share in December, according to NPCI data.

Despite receiving approval to add customers in October, Paytm's share of the UPI market has nearly halved, falling from 10% at the start of 2024 to just 5.5% by the end of the year.

Even during the October-November period, Paytm's market share remained stagnant at 5.5%.

Paytm's monthly transacting users (MTUs) also declined by nearly 100 million, dropping from 168 million at the start of 2024 to 68 million by the end of September 2024.

In a recent note, Mirae Asset Capital Markets projected that Paytm would achieve breakeven at the net profit level by Q4FY26, driven by a greater contribution from financial services to its revenue.

Despite regulatory setbacks that reduced monthly transactions (71 million in the September 2024 quarter compared to 100 million in the previous quarter), Paytm's merchant base has remained steady at 42 million due to strategic efforts to retain existing merchants on its platform.
 

United Breweries Shares Fall 4%

Moving on to news from the food & tobacco sector, shares of United Breweries declined 4% on 8 January after the company announced that it is suspending the supply of its beer to Telangana Beverages Corporation Limited (TGBCL) with immediate effect.

The maker of Kingfisher beer said it took this decision because TGBCL has not revised the basic price of its beer since 2019-2020, resulting in huge losses for the company. In a stock exchange filing, United Breweries added that there are significant overdues that TGBCL hasn't yet paid for the past supply of its beer.

TGBCL is a public sector company owned by the government of Telangana, which has a monopoly over wholesale and retail vending of alcohol in Telangana.

On 8 January, United Breweries shares hit an intraday low of Rs 1,988 apiece, suggesting a fall of 4% from their previous closing price of Rs 2,074.

The shares are currently around 10% lower than their 52-week-high record of Rs 2,202.

Bartronics Stock Hits Upper Circuit

Moving on to news from the IT sector, shares of Bartronics India jumped 5% to hit the upper circuit at Rs 24.6 apiece on 8 January.

This comes after the company announced, in an exchange filing, that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Singapore's PTW Group over both the parties' intention to establish a semiconductor unit in India.

The MoU reportedly marks the entry of Singapore-based semiconductor solutions provider PTW Group into the Indian market. PTW Group is engaged in the design, development, production and sales of silicon production equipment.

The MoU was signed in Hyderabad after a meeting with Sridhar Babu Duddilla, Telangana's Minister of Information and Technology.

Bartronics India, which was founded in 1990, provides IT services based on biometrics, bar codes and more.
 

Kalyan Jewellers Tanks 15.5%

Moving on to news from the jewellery sector, shares of Kalyan Jewellers extended their losing streak to the fourth straight session on 8 January, dropping 15.5%.

The downslide comes as investors jumped on a selling spree after the stock hit a record high on 2 January, taking on the opportunity to cash in partial profits.

Aside from the profit booking, growth prospects for the jewellery maker remain robust. In its quarterly update, the company stated that the December quarter was 'very fulfilling,' with consolidated revenue growth of 39% on-year.

The company's India operations delivered a 41% growth, driven by strong festive and wedding demand.

The company stated seeing robust demand in both gold and studded categories, helping it achieve a healthy same-store sales growth of around 24%.

In addition, Kalyan Jewellers opened 24 new showrooms in India during the quarter and has a strong pipeline for Q4 as well.

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