Banks, IT drag Sensex 678 points down, Nifty gives up 17,700; IRCTC falls 8%


The markets exhibited a high amount of volatility for the second day in a row on the back of unabated selling pressure in select index heavyweights. The BSE Sensex tumbled to a low of 59,089, but eventually ended 678 points lower at 59,307. In the process, the BSE index has now shed 5 per cent (2,938 points) from its recent peak of 62,245.

The NSE Nifty logged its second straight weekly loss, down 185 points at 17,672. The Nifty has declined 3.8 per cent (677 points) in the last two weeks. In intra-day trades on Friday, the 50-share index dipped to a low of 17,613, and was within striking distance of its 50-DMA (Daily Moving Average) at 17,570-odd levels.

The broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices in trades today. The BSE Midcap index edged 0.2 per cent higher, while the Smallcap index ended slipped 0.4 per cent, as against a 1.1 per cent decline in the Sensex.

Among sectors, the BSE Energy index plunged 1.9 per cent, and the IT index shed 1.6 per cent. The Bankex was down over a per cent. The Auto, Healthcare and Realty indices ended marginally in the positive zone.

The overall breadth was marginally negative at close. Out of 3,399 stocks traded on the BSE, 1,796 declined, while 1,452 advanced.

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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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Sensex soars 593 points, ends above 55,400; Nifty at 16,529; IT stocks dazzle


Large-cap stocks staged a spectacular rally on Friday, and lifted benchmark indices to fresh all-time highs. Tata Consumer Products (up 4 per cent) emerged as the top gainer, followed by TCS, LT, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC, RIL, and ITC.

Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex went past the 55,400-mark for the first time and hit a new milestone of 55,488 in the intra-day trade. Meanwhile, the broader 50-share index on the NSE surpassed the 16,450-mark and rallied ahead to hit an all-time high of 16,543.6.

By close, both the indices were quoting at 55,437 and 16,529 levels, up 593 and 165 points, respectively.

On the contrary, broader indices underperformed and ended mildly lower. The MidCap and SmallCap indices slipped 0.06 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

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Sensex ends 549 points down at 49,035; HCL Tech declines 4%; Tata Motors up 7%


Fresh concerns over coronavirus lockdown in China and European countries weighed on market sentiment, dragging benchmarks 1 per cent lower on Friday. That apart, concerns around the implementation of US President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed package tempered global recovery hopes.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex breached below the 49,000-mark during the intra-day trade, and hit a low of 48,795 on the BSE, plunging around 860 points from day’s high. The Nifty50, on the other hand, skid 260 points from day’s high to hit a low of 14,358. Volatility gauge, India VIX, jumped over 4 per cent today to close at 24 levels.

Sensex ended in the sea of red with 26 of the 30 constituents ending the day in the red. Tech Mahindra (down 4 per cent) was the top loser on the index, followed by losses in ONGC, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Ultratech Cement, HUL, and NTPC, down between 2 per cent and 3.7 per cent. The index closed at 49,035 levels, down 549.5 points or 1.11 per cent.

Weightage-wise, HDFC, Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, and HUL dragged the index by 300 points.

On NSE, the Nifty50 index slipped below the 14,500-mark and settled at 14,433 levels, down 162 points or 1.11 per cent lower.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settled with a cut of 1.25 per cent and 1.06 per cent, respectively.

All the sectoral indices on the NSE closed with a red tick. Nifty IT and Nifty PSU Bank index ended with 2 per cent cuts while Nifty Financial Services, FMCG, Metals, and Private bank were down 1 per cent. Nifty Bank index skid 273 points, or 0.8 per cent, and ended at 32,247.

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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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Indices gain for 6th day as financials zoom; Sensex ends 354 points higher


The bulls continued to dominate markets on Friday, thanks to a healthy buying in financial counters. The S&P BSE Sensex gained for the sixth consecutive session to settle at 39,467 levels, up 354 points, or 0.9 per cent.

NSE’s Nifty ended at 11,648, up 88 points or 0.76 per cent. Volatility index, India VIX, continued to decline and ended at 18.24 levels, down nearly 3.5 per cent.

Sun Pharma surges 4%, hits 52-week high; stock rallies 76% from March-low. For the quarter ended June 2020, Sun Pharma had reported a surprise loss due to one-time charges. The company’s US business posted a 33.5 per cent decline during the quarter, while India sales were up 3.2 per cent on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. Consolidated sales from operations at Rs 7,467 crore, a decline of about 9.6 per cent over the same quarter last year.

Shares of Edelweiss Financial Services rose as much as 3.16 per cent to Rs 86.50 on the BSE on Friday after Hong-Kong based private equity group PAG picked up 51 per cent stake in Edelweiss Wealth Management (EWM) for Rs 2,200 crore. The Edelweiss Group runs corporate and retail credit, wealth management, asset management and life and general insurance businesses.

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Indices end flat on Friday, Nifty settles at 11,214; Asian Paints up 4%


The benchmark indices ended on a subdued note on Friday; however, the mid and small-cap indices logged decent gains during the session.

The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 38,041, up 15 points or 0.04 per cent with Asian Paints (up over 4 per cent) being the top gainers and Titan Company (down over 2.5 per cent) the biggest loser. NSE’s Nifty50 ended at 11,214, up 14 points, or 0.12 per cent. India VIX dropped over 3 per cent to 22.37 levels.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained over 200 points or 1.4 per cent to end at 14,219 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed the session at 13,669, up 106 points, or 0.78 per cent.

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.15 per cent while Nifty added 1.26 per cent.

The sectoral trend on the NSE was mixed. While IT and pharma stocks fell, auto, metals and financial stocks gained. The Nifty IT index slipped 1 per cent to 18,004 levels while the Nifty Pharma index ended at 11,333, down 0.6 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Metal gained 0.85 per cent and Nifty Auto rose 0.75 per cent. Nifty Bank ended 0.5 per cent higher at 21,754 levels.

Shares of Bayer CropScience hit an all-time high of Rs 6,449 apiece on the BSE during the day after the company reported encouraging numbers for the quarter ended June 2020 (Q1FY21). The stock ended at Rs 6,139, up 9 per cent.

Shares of Lupin ended over 6 per cent lower at Rs 879.40 on the BSE after the pharmaceutical company’s net profit for April-June quarter declined 60 per cent on a yearly basis to Rs 106.9 crore. Lupin had posted a profit of Rs 264.7 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Shares of Torrent Power rallied 9 per cent to hit a 52-week high of Rs 357.50 on the BSE during the day after the company posted a 35.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 372.66 crore against Rs 275.27 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The stock ended at Rs 337, up nearly 3 per cent.

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IT stocks, HDFC Bank, RIL help Sensex settle 329 points higher


Rally in information technology (IT) stocks, HDFC Bank, and Reliance Industries (RIL) helped the benchmark index, S&P BSE Sensex, settle with 329 points or 0.94 per cent gains at 35,171 levels on Friday.

NSE’s Nifty rallied 94 points or 0.91 per cent to end at 10,383. Volatility index, India VIX, dropped over 4 per cent to 28.50 levels.

IT stocks advanced in the trade after Accenture posted a better than expected quarterly numbers. The S&P BSE Information Technology index jumped over 5 per cent to end at 15,125 levels. Among individual stocks, Infosys gained 7 per cent, TCS rose 5 per cent while Wipro ended over 3 per cent higher. READ MORE

On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.26 per cent while Nifty added 1.35 per cent.

The broader indices underperformed the benchmarks. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended 0.27 per cent higher at 13,258.44 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap rose 0.19 per cent to 12,630 points.

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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.

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Sensex dips 162 points on US-Iran tensions; PSBs, Autos top drags


Following the global sell-off, Indian equity markets, too, settled lower on Friday after US military killed Iran Revolutionary Guards’ commander Qasem Soleimani in a surprise air-strike. The middle-east tensions sent Brent Crude Futures soaring, while market sentiment turned sour at D-Street.

Brent crude futures jumped nearly $3 on Friday after a US air strike in Baghdad killed top Iranian and Iraqi military commanders, sparking concerns of disruption to Middle East oil supplies. At 3:10 pm, Brent Crude Futures were at $68.62 per barrel-mark, up 3.5 per cent.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which hit an intra-day low of 41,348.68, recovered slightly in the fag-end of the session and settled 162.03 points, or 0.39 per cent, lower at 41,464.61 level. 20 of the 30 constituents ending the day in the red. Oil-linked stocks, such as paints, aviation, oil-marketing companies (OMCs), and financial counters remained under pressure.

In the intra-day trade, Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum (BPCL), for instance, declined 2.9 per cent each on the BSE. Reliance Industries, Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL), and Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), too, slumped up to 0.7 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 lost 55.50 points, or 0.45 per cent, to settle at 12,226.65-mark. Sectorally, Nifty PSU Bank index slipped the most, down 2 per cent at close. Besides, Nifty Bank, Auto, Private Bank indices slipped over 1 per cent. On the upside, Nifty IT index advanced 1.3 per cent on the back of a weaker rupee.

In the broader market, small-caps traded in the green territory, while mid-caps followed benchmarks. The S&P BSE mid-cap index was down 0.44 per cent, while the S&P BSE small-cap index was up 0.01 per cent at close.

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