Sensex, Nifty hit day`s low; breadth weak

The benchmark indices extended heavy losses and hit the day`s low in mid-morning trade. IT stocks dragged after Infosys reported lower-than-expected Q4 results. HDFC twins were also under pressure after HDFC Bank`s Q4 earnings fell short of expectations. Weak global cues and a steep rise in fresh Covid cases in India also dampened investors sentiment.

At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex slumped 1,202.43 points or 2.06% at 57,136.50. The Nifty 50 index tumbled 315.10 points or 1.80% at 17,160.55.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.18%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.95%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 1,306 shares rose while 2,068 shares fell. A total of 138 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,061.04 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 1,410.85 crore in the Indian equity market on 13 April 2022, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

India recorded 2,183 new COVID-19 cases and 214 deaths in the 24 hours ending 8 AM on Monday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases currently stand at 11,542 and comprise 0.03% of the total infections. The recovery rate remained unchanged at 98.76% and 1,985 recoveries were reported on Sunday.

Delhi is registering an uptick in cases; daily cases breached the 500 mark on Sunday, with the city recording 517 cases in 24 hours. The positivity rate in the national capital has jumped from 0.5% to 5.33% in two weeks. Amid the increase in infections, the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will take stock of the situation and meet on 20 April 2022.

Economy:

The poverty in India is 12.3% lower in 2019 compared with 2011. The poverty headcount rate has declined from 22.5% in 2011 to 10.2% in 2019. According to policy research working paper of World Bank, poverty reduction was higher in rural areas as against urban India. Rural poverty dropped by 14.7% while urban poverty declined by 7.9% during 2011 to 2019.

According to the study, farmers with small landholding sizes have experienced higher income growth. Real incomes for farmers with the smallest landholdings have grown by 10% in annualized terms between the two survey rounds in 2013 and 2019 compared to a 2% growth for farmers with the largest landholding.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index dropped 4.95% to 32,655.25. The index dropped 10.45% in seven trading sessions.

Among the components of the Nifty IT index, Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 2.08%), HCL Technologies (down 2.23%), Coforge (down 3.14%), Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.22%) and Wipro (down 3.61%) were the top losers.

Among the other losers were, L&T Technology Services (down 3.65%), Mindtree (down 5.34%), Tech Mahindra (down 5.59%), Mphasis (down 7.01%) and Infosys (down 7.61%).

Infosys slumped 7.27%. The IT firm`s consolidated net profit fell 2.1% to Rs 5,686 crore on a 1.3% increase in revenues to Rs 32,276 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q3 FY22. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, Infosys` net profit and revenue in Q4 FY22 increased 12% and 22.7%, respectively. In dollar terms, the company reported revenues of $4,280 million, registering a growth of 18.5% Y-o-Y for the quarter ended 31 March 2022.

Revenues in constant currency terms grew by 20.6% Y-o-Y and 1.2% Q-o-Q. Operating margin for the quarter stood at 21.5%, a decline of 3% Y-o-Y and 2% Q-o-Q. For the quarter ended 31 March 2021, Free cash flow (FCF) was Rs 5,769 crore, registering a Y-o-Y decline of 0.9% while FCF conversion was at 101.3% of net profit. Infosys said growth was broad-based, supported by continued momentum in large deal wins with total contract value (TCV) of large deal wins was $2.3 billion in Q4 FY22.

Stocks in Spotlight:

ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company rallied 3.87%. The company recorded a net profit of Rs 184.67 crore in Q4 FY22, which is higher 189.5% as compared with the same period last year. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 63.78 crore in Q4 FY21. Net premium income declined by 4.4% to Rs 11,358.91 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 11,879.28 crore in Q4 FY21.

The life insurer reported 21.5% fall in net profit to Rs 754.13 crore despite a 3.9% rise in net premium income to Rs 36,321.27 crore in FY22 over FY21. The life insurer`s claims and benefit payouts increased by 29.7% to Rs 29,359 crore in FY22 from Rs 22,641 crore in FY21 primarily on account of increase in surrenders and withdrawals and death claims. The company had COVID-19 claims (net of reinsurance) of Rs 1,017 crore.

Maruti Suzuki India rose 0.21%. Shares of car manufacturer gained in a weak market after the company announced increase in prices across models owing to increase in various input costs. The weighted average increase across models is in ex showroom prices for Delhi will be around 1.3%. The new prices will come into effect from 18 April 2022.

Jubilant Ingrevia jumped 4.97%. The company bagged a CDMO contract for an estimated value of Rs 270 crore in the specialty chemicals business, spanning over a period of three years, from one of its international customers. The company`s international customer is among the top 10 leading innovator pharmaceutical companies globally.

Through the contract, the company will supply two key GMP intermediates for one of the `patented drugs` of the innovator pharmaceutical customer. Both these products involve seven steps specialised chemistry. Commercial supplies of both these products will start from FY23 onwards. The company will use GMP facility to service this contract.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks were mixed on Monday, with investors reacting to the release of Chinese economic data, including first-quarter gross domestic product figures. China has reported gross domestic product of 4.8% in the first quarter of 2022, as against 4% in the fourth quarter. Markets in Australia and Hong Kong are closed on Monday for a holiday.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News