Sensex down 153 points, Nifty below 12,100; Asian Paints falls 2%
After a one-day blip, benchmark indices once again slipped into the negative territory on Thursday, pulled down by heavyweights such as Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC Bank, TCS, HUL and Asian Paints. Further, 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.
The S&P BSE Sensex lost 153 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 41,170, with Asian Paints (down over 2 per cent) being the top loser and IndusInd Bank (up over 3.5 per cent) the biggest gainer.
NSE’s Nifty50 index ended the session at 12,081, down 45 points or 0.37 per cent.
Among individual stocks, IRCTC gained over 5 per cent to end at 1,928 . Adani Gas rallied 13 per cent to Rs 185.50 apiece on the BSE after media reports said Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB) disposed November 29 showcause notice to the company and the regulator has approved TOTAL’s 37 per cent stake buy in the company.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap index added 62.5 points or 0.4 per cent to 15,694 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index rallied 0.5 per cent to settle at 14,747.
On the sectoral front, IT stocks bled the most, followed by FMCG and media counters. On the other hand, PSU bank stocks advanced the most. The Nifty PSU Bank index climbed 1 per cent to 2,169 levels.
Markets remained shut on Friday on account of Mahashivratri.
Shares of three state-owned companies, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), MSTC, and Mishra Dhatu Nigam (MIDHANI), hit their respective fresh highs on the bourses on Thursday. These stocks have rallied in the range of 20 per cent to 27 per cent during this week, as compared to 0.39 per cent decline in the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex during the period.
A sharp rally in the market price of Muthoot Finance has led to its market capitalisation (market-cap) touching Rs 36,823 crore, the BSE data shows. With this, the company overtook financials like AU Small Finance Bank (Rs 35,657 crore), Punjab National Bank (Rs 35,843 crore) and IDBI Bank (Rs 35,969 crore) in the m-cap ranking.
Thomas Cook (India) gained 20% as board mulled a share buyback.
Shares of Max Financial Services (MFS) surged 16 per cent to its fresh 52-week high of Rs 596 on the BSE on Thursday on reports that Axis Bank is in talks to acquire more than 20 per cent stake in Max Life Insurance through fresh issue of equity. MFS is the holding company of Max Life Insurance (Max Life) — India’s largest non bank-owned life insurer.
Shares of Vodafone Idea rose up to 12 per cent to Rs 4.71 on the BSE on Thursday, thus extending its Wednesday’s 38 per cent rally amid reports that the government is unlikely to invoke the company’s bank guarantees as of now. The telecom services company’s stock has now soared 66 per cent from Tuesday’s intra-day low of Rs 2.83 on the BSE.
Shares of Sterlite Technologies (STL) jumped over 7 per cent on Thursday, a day after the company informed that it has added new orders of Rs 1,500 crore. These orders have ranged from continued business development in its core areas of optical connectivity solutions and network services to emerging areas such as software virtualisation, the company said in its press release.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
