Sensex slumps 981 points, Nifty ends near 17,800; PSU index crashes 6%


Bears crawled on Dalal Street on Friday as wobbly global sentiment as Covid-19 scare in China triggered slowdown fears. With this, equity markets have settled lower for a fourth consecutive day.

The S&P BSE Sensex slumped 981 points or 1.6 per cent to end at 59,845, which is its lowest level since October 28. The index hit an intra-day low of 59,766 during the day dragged by Tata Steel, Tata Motors, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, IndusInd Bank, Reliance, L&T, which shed 2-5 per cent.

The Nifty50, meanwhile, ended at 17,807, down 321 points or 1.8 per cent. The index sank to a low of 17,779 during the day.

The pain was even more severe in the broader market space where the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 3 and 4 per cent, respectively.

The broad-based selling was led by public sector banks with the Nifty PSU Bank index tumbling nearly 6 per cent. This was followed by the Nifty Metal index (down over 4 per cent), and the Nifty Realty index (down 3 per cent).

Continue Reading


Indices extend gains, Sensex up 524 points as RIL surges over 6%


Extending their rally into the second straight day, the benchmark indices ended Friday’s session with around 1.5 per cent gains, led by Reliance Industries (RIL) as the company announced it has become net debt-free, much before its original schedule of March 31, 2021. The stock rallied 6.5 per cent to end at Rs 1,764. In the process, the company scaled the market capitalisation of Rs 11 trillion.

The S&P BSE Sensex today gained 524 points or 1.53 per cent to settle at 34,732. Of 30 stocks on the index, 18 ended in the green and rest 12 in the red. Besides RIL, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, and Bharti Airtel were the major contributors to the index’s gains.

NSE’s Nifty50 ended at 10,244, up 153 points or 1.5 per cent with 33 constituents advancing, 16 declining and 1 remaining unchanged. Volatility index, India VIX, dipped over 5 per cent to 29.78 levels.

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained nearly 3 per cent while Nifty added 2.7 per cent.

Sectorally, all the indices except Nifty IT and Nifty Metal ended in the green. Nifty Realty index zoomed over 6 per cent to 29.78 levels. On the other hand, Nifty IT slipped 0.35 per cent to 14,500.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 1.37 per cent to 12,804 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index rallied around 1.4 per cent to 12,277.

Continue Reading



Sensex reclaims 35,000: IT, FMCG, auto, metal stocks shine in claw-back


Benchmark indices ended sharply up on Friday, triggered by corporate earnings and taking cues from global peers.

The S&P BSE Sensex hit an intra-day high of 35,065, but pared gains to end at 34,970 levels, up 256 points. The broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,692, up 75 points.

Reliance Industries (RIL) hit a record high of Rs 1,000 per share, up 2.5% on the BSE in intraday trade on the BSE, ahead of its Q4FY18 results today. The stock surpassed its previous high of Rs 990 recorded on January 23, 2018 in intra-day deal. The textiles-to-telecom conglomerate, RIL is expected to post its best-ever quarterly consolidated net profit, with the figure expected to be close to Rs 100-billion mark.

Country’s largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki, reported a record annual profit of Rs 77.21 billion for the year ended March 31, 2018, helped by a double-digit growth in volumes of cars sold. The Suzuki-promoted firm clocked a near 17 percent jump in sales revenue for the year to Rs 781 billion. Profit, however, grew by just five percent. An increase in effective tax rates and lower non-operating income due to mark-to-market impact on the invested surplus, compared to last year impacted net profit, the company said.

Shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks were in focus with Nifty PSU Bank index gaining 5%, its sharpest intra-day gain during past one month on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).

Continue Reading


Benign reaction to UK poll verdict; Sensex, Nifty erase losses to end on Friday in green


The benchmark indices ended marginally higher on Friday tracking mixed trend seen in global markets as investors reacted benignly to the UK poll verdict, which left no single party with a clear claim to power.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 31,262, up 48 points, while the broader Nifty50 closed at 9,668, up 21 points.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices gained 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

The breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1,380 shares rose and 1,289 shares fell. A total of 187 shares were unchanged.

Continue Reading