Sensex jumps 685 points, Nifty ends near 17,200; Infosys, HDFC, HDFC Bank shine


The key benchmark indices bounced back with panache in opening trades this morning taking cues from the global peers. The S&P BSE benchmark index soared to a high of 58,435 in intra-day deals led by strong gains in IT major Infosys and the HDFC twins.

Infosys rallied over 5 per cent to a high of Rs 1,494 on the back of healthy Q2 performance and Rs 9,300 crore share buyback. Analysts expect the stock to log further gains in the coming trading sessions. READ MORE

The key indices, however, pared gains in the latter half of the trading sessions as the overall sentiment remained cautious in the backdrop of a high inflation scenario globally. The Sensex eventually ended 685 points higher at 57,920. Thanks to the Friday-rally, the BSE index was able to trim its weekly loss to 271 points.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rallied past the 17,300-level in early deals, but finally settled at 17,186 – up 171 points.

The broader indices erased the entire day’s gain towards the close. The BSE Midcap index was up 0.1 per cent, while the Smallcap index ended unmoved.

Sectorally, the BSE IT and Bankex surged 1.7 per cent each. The Capital Goods index was the other notable gainer. On the other hand, Oil & Gas and Power indices slipped over a per cent each.

The overall breadth was marginally positive, with 1,835 stocks advancing versus 1,608 declining shares on the BSE.

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Sensex gains 89 points, Nifty holds 17,350 as RBI hikes repo rate by 50 bps


It was a wild ride for the markets on Friday as a hawkish monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) led to a tug of war between bulls and bears. While an in-line repo rate hike of 50 basis points gave ammunition to the bulls, bears tried to drag the indices as inflation projections were maintained for fiscal 2022-23 (FY23) despite three consecutive rate hikes.

Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex oscillated within a band of 405 points during the day, hitting a high of 58,649, and a low of 58,244. The index ended at 58,388, up 89 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, closed 16 points, or 0.09 per cent, higher at 17,397 levels.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added up to 0.2 per cent. Among sectors, the Nifty Auto index fell over 1 per cent, bogged down by Balkrishna Industries (down 7 per cent), and M&M (2 per cent). On the upside, the Nifty IT index gained 0.6 per cent.

Rate-sensitive stocks hogged the limelight as Manappuram Finance soared nearly 10 per cent, clocking its biggest intra-day gain in recent times. Meanwhile, shares of State Bank of India were up 1.5 per cent and were seen inching towards a new historic peak; automobile major Bajaj Auto and realty player DLF were trading with modest gains.

The rate hike signaled the entire reversal of the Covid-era cuts. The latest rate action takes the total tally of rate hikes since May to 140 basis points. Accounting for introducing the SDF at a higher rate than the reverse repo rate in April, effective rate hikes stand at 180 bps in 2022.

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Sensex falls 884 points from day’s high, ends 77 points down; Nifty holds 17,100


Benchmark indices ended a week of extreme volatility marginally in the red note on Friday, following the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting.

The S&P BSE Sensex index had started gap-up and had extended its rally to hit a high of 58,084-mark, up 807 points intra-day. However, a sharp sell-off in the last hour of trade dragged the index in the negative zone, settling 77 points, or 0.13 per cent, lower at 57,200.

The Nifty50 shut shop at 17,102, down 8 points or 0.05 per cent. It was 271 points lower from its intra-day high of 17,373.

The indices’ breadth was slightly skewed towards buyers as 14 of the 30 constituents on the Sensex and 19 of the 50 constituents on the Nifty ended in the red. The losses were led by Maruti Suzuki, Tech M, Power Grid, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, SBI, and Bajaj Finserv. All these stocks were down in the range of 1 to 3 per cent.

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New Covid variant spooks markets; Sensex ends 1,688-pts lower at 57,107


Fears that a new strain could fuel outbreaks in many countries, straining health systems, potentially evading vaccines and complicating efforts to reopen economies and borders, sent a wave of risk aversion across global markets Friday.

Falling in-line with all global peers, the BSE Sensex plunged 1,688 points, or 2.9 per cent, to end today’s bloodbath at 57,107 levels. The index hit a high and low of 58,255 and 56,994, respectively.
The Nifty50, too, erased 510 points, or 2.9 per cent, to close at 17,026. During the day, the index slipped below the 17,000-mark (at 16,986), a first since August this year.

The stocks witnessed their biggest intra-day fall since April 12, 2021, and also their biggest weekly fall since January 29, 2021.

The meltdown was equally bad in the broader markets, where the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices fell 3.2 per cent and 2.6 per cent, respectively.

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Sensex sprints 569 points, ends at 61,306; Nifty atop 18,300; IRCTC gains 11%


Market bulls reigned on the bourses for the sixth consecutive session on Thursday as strong Q2 show by Infosys and Wipro, along with hopes of a better-than-anticipated economic recovery, lifted sentiment. The benchmark BSE Sensex reached the 61,000-mark milestone for the first time while the Nifty50 index surpassed 18,300 today.

An across-the-board rally lifted the 30-share pack 569 points or 0.94 per cent on the bourses, helping the index to settle at 61,306 levels. The Nifty50, meanwhile, shut shop at 18,336 levels, up 174 points or 0.96 per cent. Both the indices hit fresh record peaks of 61,353 and 18,351 in the intra-day deals.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index closed 0.54 per cent higher while the BSE SmallCap index added 0.46 per cent.

Overall, market breadth firmly favoured the bulls with 1,719 stocks advancing on the BSE compared with 1,637 stocks that declined. The BSE m-cap stood at Rs 272.8 trillion by close.

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Sensex tanks 720 points from day’s high, ends 125 down; Nifty PSB drops 3%


In a volatile session on Dalal Street, the benchmark indices tumbled from record high levels to snap their three-day winning run amid losses in RIL, IT stocks and select banking counters. Despite a firm global market sentiment, the Indian indices settled in the red as profit taking ensued following a steep rally in the indices which saw them hitting significant landmarks.

After touching a record high of 59,737, the BSE barometer Sensex plunged 721 points from the high to end at 59,016, down 125 points. At the same time, its NSE counterpart Nifty50 settled the day 44 points down at 17,585. The 50-pack index had touched record peak of 17,793 in morning session. However, on the weekly basis, the benchmark indices gained, thus taking their winning run to the fourth straight week.

The fall was more pronounced in the broader markets. The BSE Midcap index sank 1.14 per cent and BSE Smallcap index 1.06 per cent, thus, underperforming benchmark Sensex. Overall, the advance-decline ratio on BSE stood at nearly 1:2, indicating that for every one share that rose, two declined.

Sectorally, PSU Bank index tanked the most among all sectors, reversing strong gains that were seen on Thursday amid expectations that FM Nirmala Sitharaman would announce National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL) that would acquire bad loans in an attempt to resolve them. While the announcement did come, investors preffered to take profits off the table, pushing the index 2.96 per cent lower.

It was closely trailed by Nifty Media & Realty that shed 2.38 per cent and 2.35 per cent, respectively. On the other hand, Nifty Media, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank were the gainers. Nifty Auto setlled the day unchanged.

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Rising bond yields, Covid-19 cases spoil D-St party; Sensex slides 487 points


An across-the-board sell-off dragged the benchmark indices around a per cent lower on Friday as sombre global mood hit markets during the second-half of the trading session. US 10-year Treasury yields rose again on Friday, back above 1.6 per cent, and were on track to rise for the seventh straight week. Add to it, the dollar index rose 0.4 per cent denting sentiment further.

Against this backdrop, gains in Asian stock markets proved tough to match for most of European peers, after they hit a 1-year high in the prior session. Nasdaq Futures, which tumbled over 1.5 per cent, or 200 points, also suggested a lower start for Wall Street later in the day.

Japan’s Nikkei added 1.7 per cent – but this faded out as Europe opened for business. Britain’s FTSE 100 and the STOXX Europe 600 slipped around 0.5 per cent each, weighing on the MSCI World Index, which was down 0.1 per cent.

Back home, the equity indices snapped their three-day winning streak and settled 0.9 per cent lower. The frontline S&P BSE Sensex dropped 487 points, or 0.95 per cent, to end the day at 50,792 levels. From the intra-day high of 51,822, the index plunged 1,284 points to hit an intra-day low of 50,538.

On the NSE, the Nifty index held the 15,000-mark to close at 15,031 levels, down 144 points, or 0.95 per cent. In the intra-day trade, the index hit a low of 14,954.

26 of the 30 constituents on the Sensex and 42 of the 50 constituents on the Nifty ended the day in the red. Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Life, SBI Life, Maruti Suzuki, Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, SBI, and Reliance Industries, all down between 2 per cent and 3 per cent, were the top laggards on the indices.

On the flipside, PowerGrid, Titan Company, Infosys, ONGC, Indian Oil Corp, BPCL, and JSW Steel remained the top gainers on the benchmark indices.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE SmallCap index fended the fall and settled 0.14 per cent higher supported by gains in Apollo Pipes, Jindal Poly Firms, MTNL, BGR Energy Systems, Delta Corp, and Meghmani Organics.

The MidCap counterpart, however, fell 0.45 per cent.

Sectorally, all the NSE indices were painted red with the Nifty Auto and PSU Bank indices down around 2 per cent each. The Nifty Bank, Financial Services, FMCG, Metal, and Private Bank indices, on the other hand, slipped nearly 1 per cent.

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Sensex ends choppy session 136 points lower; Nifty ends at 11,642


The domestic benchmark indices ended Friday’s volatile session in the negative territory amid weak global cues.

Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex ended 136 points or 0.34 percent lower at 39,614 levels and the broader Nifty50 index ended at 11,642, down 28 points, or 0.24 percent. Bharti Airtel (down 4 percent), Maruti (down over 2 percent), and HUL (down 2 percent) were the top Sensex drags. On the other hand, Tata Steel (up over 2 percent), and NTPC (up 2 percent) were the biggest gainers on the index.

Volatility index, India VIX, rose 3 percent to 24.7 levels.

Shares of Cholamandalam Investment rallied 15% in two days on strong Q2 results. The company’s profit after tax (PAT) increased 41 percent at Rs 432 crore on improvement in net income margin and lower operational expenses. It had posted a profit of Rs 307 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.

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Sensex recovers 600 points from day’s low, ends 223 points up; FMCG, Pharma rally


Supported by buying in FMCG, pharma, and auto counters, the domestic equity market ended in the positive territory on Friday, ahead of the release of GDP data for January-March quarter of 2019-20 (Q4FY20).

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex recovered a good 600 points from day’s low to settle at 32,424.10, up 223.15 points or 0.7 per cent. ONGC (up 5.5 per cent) was the top gainer on the index while IT major Infosys (down 2 per cent) ended as the biggest loser.

NSE’s Nifty settled at 9,580, up 90 points or 1 per cent, with 36 of 50 constituents advancing and 14 declining.

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 5.7 per cent and the Nifty added 6 per cent.

The broader market, too, participated in the rally. The Nifty Midcap 100 index gained over 1 per cent to 13,273 and the Nifty SmallCap 100 index rose nearly a per cent to 4,002.80.

Among individual stocks, Vodafone Idea rallied 35 per cent to Rs 7.85 in the intra-day deals on the BSE, after reports said that the global technology giant Google is in talks to buy a 5 per cent stake in the company, owned by Vodafone Plc of the UK and Aditya Birla Group. The stock, however, pared gains and ended around 13 per cent higher at Rs 6.56 after the company clarified on the report, saying there is no proposal as reported by the media that is being considered at the Board.

IT services firm Wipro surged 6.65 per cent to Rs 212.55 after the company named Thierry Delaporte as the new chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of the company, replacing Abidali Neemuchwala. Delaporte was most recently the chief operating officer of French consulting and technology firm Capgemini Group.

Shares of pharmaceutical companies were in focus with Nifty Pharma index gaining over 3 per cent on the expectation of strong demand scenario from both the domestic and export market.

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Sensex falls 202 points post AGR verdict; Voda-Idea tanks 23%


Equity market came under pressure on Friday after the Supreme Court (SC) rejected the telecom companies’ plea seeking new schedule of adjusted gross revenue (AGR) payments and directed them to clear their dues to the government by March 17.

The S&P BSE Sensex slid 202 points or 0.49 per cent to settle at 41,258, with IndusInd Bank (down 4 per cent) being the top loser and Bharti Airtel (up nearly 5 per cent) the biggest gainer.

On the NSE, the benchmark Nifty50 index ended at 12,113, down 61 points or 0.5 per cent.

Among telcos, Vodafone Idea tumbled over 23 per cent to Rs 3.44 apiece on the BSE post the AGR verdict. Bharti Infratel settled nearly 6 per cent lower at Rs 231. On the other hand, Bharti Airtel jumped 5 per cent to a fresh lifetime high of Rs 565 on the BSE as investors bet on a potential duopoly in the Indian telephony market after the Supreme Court today rejected the telcos’ review plea on adjusted gross revenues (AGR) payments. The stock settled at Rs 564, up around 4.5 per cent.

Financial and banking stocks, too, took a beating following the decision as, according to reports, they have high exposure to Vodafone Idea’s debt. Nifty Bank tumbled 395 points or over 1 per cent to 30,835 points.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 0.8 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled 0.4 per cent lower at 14,683.

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