Barometers at day`s low; breadth remains weak

The key equity indices declined further and hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 16,100 level. Shares of financial services stocks and banks bucked the trend while IT, media and realty stocks declined.

At 13:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 176.33 points or 0.33% to 53,876.28. The Nifty 50 index fell 60.90 points or 0.38 % to 16,064.25.

The broader indices tumbled. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.50% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 2.30%.

Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 677 shares rose and 2,536 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

Investors awaited the release of minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, due later today. The minutes will give more clues on whether the monetary tightening would continue. Investors are worried about a potential U.S. recession caused by the monetary tightening.

Gainers & Losers:

SBI Life (up 2.99%), HDFC Life (up 2.91%), NTPC (up 2.25%), Kotak Bank (up 2.16%) and Nestle India (up 1.36%) were major Nifty gainers.

Asian Paints (down 5.11%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 3.47%), Tech Mahindra (down 3.05%), UPL (down 2.61%) and Apollo Hospitals (down 2.54%) were majority Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) declined 4.64% to Rs 716.90 after the company reported a 21.8% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 1033.02 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 1320.69 crore recorded in Q4 FY21. Net sales rose 6.6% to Rs 3,845.03 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 from Rs 3,607.90 crore recorded in the corresponding period last year. Profit before tax slumped 24% to Rs 1,170.43 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 1,539.05 crore in Q4 FY21. Total expenses soared 52.4% to Rs 1,986.23 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21.

Minda Industries jumped 7.30% to Rs 896.05 after the company`s board approved the issue of bonus shares to the shareholders of the company. The company will issue one bonus equity share for every one existing equity share held by the shareholders as on the `record date`. Meanwhile, The company reported 2.9% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 144.37 crore on a 7.9% increase in net sales to Rs 2,415.08 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. Profit before tax in Q4 FY22 stood at Rs 174.96 crore, down by 7.9% from Rs 189.96 crore in Q4 FY21.

Lumax Industries surged 14.86% to Rs 1,034.45 after the company`s consolidated net profit rose 49.74% to Rs 33.99 crore on 8.92% rise in net sales to Rs 549.37 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021. On a consolidated basis, profit before tax, exceptional items & share of profit/(loss) of associate fell 7.9% year-on-year to Rs 39.50 crore in Q4 March 2022. EBITDA fell 7% to Rs 61 crore during the period under review.

Aster DM Healthcare surged 9.84% to Rs 189.70 after the company`s consolidated net profit jumped 114.7% to Rs 226.27 crore on a 14% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,727.79 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. Profit before tax soared nearly 105% to Rs 249.82 crore in Q4 FY22 as against Rs 121.97 crore in Q4 FY21. Total expenses rose 9.5% year on year to Rs 2267.34 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2022.

Global Markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Wednesday. New Zealand`s central bank has announced yet another 50 basis point rate hike. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Wednesday its decision to hike its official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2%.

"A larger and earlier increase in the [official cash rate] reduces the risk of inflation becoming persistent, while also providing more policy flexibility ahead in light of the highly uncertain global economic environment," the RBNZ has reportedly said in a release announcing the rate hike.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished in the red on Tuesday as worries that aggressive moves to curb decades-high inflation might tip the US economy into recession dampened investors` risk appetite.

Investors continued to assess the global macroeconomic outlook as they await the minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, due on Wednesday, which could give clues on whether the monetary tightening would continue.

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