Domestic equities’ losing run entered sixth straight session on Friday as growth concerns, amid fears of elevated interest rates, hurt sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 142 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 59,464, while the Nifty50 declined 45 points, or 0.26 per cent, to end at 17,466.
Adani Enterprises (down 5 per cent), Hindalco, JSW Steel, M&M, Tata Steel, SBI Life, L&T, Tata Motors, BPCL, HDFC Life, HDFC, and HDFC Bank were the top laggards. On the flipside, ONGC, Divis Labs, Asian Paints, Coal India, Adani Ports, Bajaj Auto, Power Grid, and NTPC eked out gains.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index dipped 0.17 per cent, and the BSE SmallCap index eased 0.15 per cent. Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index plunged 3 per cent, followed by the Nifty PSU Bank index (down 0.8 per cent).
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It was a lacklustre session for the markets on Friday as lack of fresh triggers kept indices within a narrow range. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 123.5 points, or 0.2 per cent, to settle at 60,682.7 levels today amid profit booking in HCL Tech (down 2.7 per cent), Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Wipro, ITC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, and HUL.
The Nifty50, meanwhile, closed at 17,857, down 37 points or 0.2 per cent. In the broader markets, the BSE SmallCap indices outshone its peers by rising 0.48 per cent. The BSE MidCap index settled flat with a positive bias.
Among individual shares, shares of Gautam Adani group companies continued to reel under pressure Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Total Gas hitting their respective 52-week lows on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade.
Besides, shares of digital financial services firm One97 Communications, which owns Paytm, slipped 9 per cent to Rs 640 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Friday’s intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes.
Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index slipped 2 per cent, while the Nifty Realty index gained 1.36 per cent.
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Selling pressure intensified in late noon deals on Friday after reports emerged of fresh Russian onslaught on Ukrainian soil. According to media reports, at least three cities in Ukraine faced major missile attack on energy facilities and infrastructure. Meanwhile, recession fears in the US and Euro region, coupled with growth slowdown concerns back home, weighed on the sentiment.
Against this backdrop, the S&P BSE Sensex dropped 461 points, or 0.75 per cent, to settle at 61,338. The Nifty50, too, slumped 146 points or 0.79 per cent to end at 18,269.
Dr Reddy’s Labs, M&M, Asian Paints, SBI, TCS, Titan, Power Grid, and Ultratech Cement fell the most among the 27 losers within the Sensex pack. Adani Ports, BPCL, Bajaj Auto, and Hero MotoCorp were the additional laggards on the Nifty.
Tata Motors, HDFC Bank, HUL, and Tata Steel were the only large-cap gainers on the benchmark indices.
Meanwhile, in the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index declined 1.4 per cent, while the BSE SmallCap index dipped 0.9 per cent.
Among sectors, the Nifty PSU Bank index sunk the most, down nearly 3 per cent. This was followd by losses in the Nifty Realty, Pharma, and Media indices, down over 1 per cent each.
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Equity market ended an action-packed day in the positive territory on Friday, though the benchmark indices trimmed most of their gains towards the end of the session. Shares of telecom companies – Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel surged amid hopes that the government would step in to help the ailing sector, a day after the two companies reported a combined loss of Rs 74,000 crore and warned their ability to operate and make profits would depend on relief from the country.
Besides, rally in PSU banks post Supreme Court ruling in Essar Steel case and reports that important trade issues between India and the US have been resolved and the countries may sign initial trade package boosted investor sentiment. That apart, US-China trade deal hopes, too, cheered market particpants.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 70 points or 0.17 per cent higher at 40,356.69. During the day, the index hit a high and low of 40,650.06 and 40,308.09, respectively. Bharti Airtel (up around 8.50 per cent) emerged as the biggest gainer on the index while Hero MotoCorp (down nearly 2 per cent) was the top laggard.
SBI, Bharti Airtel, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries (RIL), and Sun Pharma contributed the most to the index’s gains while ITC, TCS and Maruti were the top drags. In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 14,773 levels, up 93 points or 0.63 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index slipped 17 points or 0.13 per cent to end at 13,326.40.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 index added 23 points or 0.20 per cent to end at 11,895.30 levels.
Sectorally, PSU bank stocks advanced the most. Pharma counters came second on the list. Nifty PSU Bank index climbed 3.50 per cent to 2,462.75 levels. On the other hand, auto stocks bled the most with the Nifty Auto index falling 0.54 per cent to 8,146.65 levels.
Volatility guage India VIX declined over 4 per cent to 14.96 levels.
On a weekly basis, Sensex added 0.08 per cent while Nifty lost 0.10 per cent.
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Markets edged up on Friday with Nifty50 closing above 10,800-levels, even as broader global markets remained weak.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 35,689, up 257 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,822, up 81 points.
The top gainers on the Sensex include Sun Pharma, HDFC, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), and Axis Bank whereas Reliance Industries (RIL), and Coal India were the major losers.
Among sectoral gainers, banking and finance sectoral indices gained with Nifty Bank, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Private Bank index up over 1% each. Meanwhile, Nifty Pharma index was up 1.8% with Sun Pharma gaining over 4%.
Bajaj Finance, which hit a new high of Rs 2,330, up 3% on the BSE in late noon deal on Friday, has surpasses private sector lender Axis Bank in market capitalisation (market-cap) ranking. Thus far in the calendar year 2018 (CY18), Bajaj Finance has outperformed the market by surging 33% as compared to 4% rise in the S&P BSE Sensex. Axis Bank has underperformed the market by falling 8% during the period.
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Benchmark indices ended at fresh closing highs for a third straight session on Friday, led by financial stocks amid improved investor sentiment after the government decided to cut tax rates on certain products and services.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,511, up 251 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,894, up 77 points.
ICICI Prudential Life said profit in Q3 grew by 0.5 percent to Rs 452.1 crore against Rs 450 crore reported in year-ago. Net premium income jumped 19.3 percent to Rs 6,795 crore from Rs 5,697 crore YoY.
PC Jeweller today reported 52 percent increase in its net profit at Rs 162.71 crore for the quarter ended December on higher sales and profit margins. The company, which has 84 retail jewelry stores across the country, had posted a net profit of Rs 106.97 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Private sector lender IDFC Bank said its profit for the quarter ended December 2017 declined 23.6 percent to Rs 146.1 crore, compared to Rs 191.3 crore in year-ago. Profitability was hit by lower net interest income, other income and operating income; but was largely supported lower provisions. Net interest income, the difference between interest earned and interest expended, fell 5 percent to Rs 495 crore compared to Rs 521 crore in year-ago. Asset quality worsened during the quarter. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) as a percentage of gross advances were sharply higher at 5.62 percent against 3.92 percent in previous quarter and net NPA was also higher at 3.52 percent in Q3 against 1.61 percent in Q2FY18.
Kirloskar Oil Engines shares gained 3 percent after profit in Q3 increased 40.5 percent to Rs 39.5 crore from Rs 28.1 crore YoY. Revenue from operations rose 6.8 percent to Rs 684.6 crore while operating profit grew by 10.7 percent to Rs 64.1 crore and margin expanded 40 basis points to 9.4 percent.
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