Sensex tumbles 769 pts, Nifty settles below 16,250; Titan drops over 5%

Key equity benchmarks ended with deep losses on Friday, amid weak global cues. The Nifty settled below 16,250 level after crossing 16,450 mark in afternoon trade. Investors sentiment was dented by the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war, soaring oil prices and persistent FIIs selling. Barring the Nifty IT index, all the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red. Consumer durables, autos and realty shares witnessed steep selling.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 768.87 points or 1.40% at 54,333.81. The Nifty 50 index shed 252.70 points or 1.53% at 16,245.35.

Titan Company (down 5.21%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 4.75%), Asian Paints (down 4.45%), Hero MotoCorp (down 4.32%) and Tata Motors (down 4.28%) were top Nifty losers.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 2.36% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.64%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1228 shares rose and 2126 shares fell. A total of 103 shares were unchanged.

Numbers to Watch:

The yield on India`s 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 6.81% as compared with 6.82% at close in the previous trading session.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 76.16, compared with its close of 75.94 during the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 April 2022 settlement rose 0.44% to Rs 52,000.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback`s value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.3% to 98.08.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2022 settlement was up $1.55 at $112.01 a barrel. The contract tumbled 3.45% to settle at $110.58 a barrel in the previous trading session.

Higher crude oil prices could increase India`s fiscal deficit, current account deficit and stoke fuel price inflation.

Global Stocks:

The Dow Jones index futures were down 203 points, indicating a weak opening in the US stock market today.

European shares fell across the board while most Asian stocks ended lower on Friday, as Russia`s invasion of Ukraine escalates, with Russian forces attacking Europe`s largest nuclear power plant.

Ukraine`s nuclear agency says Russian military forces have taken control of the facility in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Situated in the southeast of the country, the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant houses six of Ukraine`s 15 operational nuclear power reactors.

The bombardment triggered international condemnation and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will call for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council to discuss the attack.

Traders also monitored comments from US Federal Reserve officials, including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell`s testimony to the Senate Banking Committee for his second day of Congressional testimony this week. Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester said Thursday that the war in Ukraine intensified the need for the Fed to raise rates.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Unilever slumped 3.43% to Rs 2019.90. The FMCG major has declined 12.63% in nine trading sessions from its previous closing high of Rs 2,312 on 18 February 2022. The counter has fallen 29.35% from its 52-week high of Rs 2859.10 hit on 21 September 2021. The stock hit a 52-week low of Rs 1975.20 in intraday today.

Vodafone Idea dropped 6.77%. The telecom operator said its board has approved raising up to Rs 14,500 crore, including Rs 4,500 crore from promoter entities - Vodafone and Aditya Birla Group.

Angel One rose 0.57%. The brokerage said that its client base rose 5% to 8.76 million in February 2022 as against 8.34 million in January 2022. The company`s client base surged 133.6% YoY from 3.75 million in February 2021.

Angel`s overall average daily turnover (ADTO) was Rs 8,88,100 crore in February 2022 (up 9% MoM and 121.7% YoY). The company`s ADTO from the F&O segment stood at Rs 8,64,300 crore, accounting for 97.32% of the overall ADTO during the month.

Gabriel India rose 1.71% after HDFC Mutual Fund bought 30.66 lakh equity shares or 2.13% stake of the company on 2 March 2022. Post transaction, HDFC Mutual Fund (i.e. HDFC Trustee Company A/c - HDFC Multi Cap Fund HDFC Small Cap Fund) has increased its shareholding to 9.17% from 7.04% held earlier. The deal was executed in open market.

Mahindra Lifespace Developers fell 0.68%. The company said it received over 200 applications for Mahindra Happinest Kalyan-2 within four weeks of its launch.

GAIL (India) fell 2.33%. The company said that its board will meet on 11 March 2022, to consider the second interim dividend for FY 2021-22.

Indian Metals & Ferro Alloys fell 2.72%. The company said that it has prepaid the long term debt of Rs 127.65 crore, thereby making the total prepayment of Rs 308.65 crore till date. After payment of normal installments for the quarter ending 31 March 2022, the company will have miscellaneous loans of Rs 14.28 crore, which will be paid as per norms due to adverse prepayment conditions.

Time Technoplast fell 1.29% after the company bagged an order for supply of 7,58,814 units of cylinders of 10 kg capacity for a value of approximately Rs 180 crore from Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL). The cylinders are to be supplied over the next 12 months.

IHS Markit India Services PMI:

India`s services sector output increased to 51.8 in February from 51.5 in January, pointing to a moderate rate of expansion, as per a report by IHS Markit. Greater bookings, better demand conditions and the retreat of the pandemic drove this moderate expansion.

The composite PMI output rose to 53.5 in February from 53.0 in January, signaling a solid rate of expansion that was nonetheless below its long-run average, the IHS Markit stated.

Economy:

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has called for increasing India`s share in global trade to 10% and taking India`s share of exports in GDP to about 25%. Addressing the closing session of the Post-Budget Webinar on `Make in India for the World`, Goyal said these are ambitious targets, but doable.

He said other countries are also talking of programmes very similar to AatmaNirbhar Bharat. Goyal called for taking India among the top three nations in Global Services Trade.

Stating that the government is looking at a more liberal regulatory regime for the Drones sector barring the Defence systems, he said that the Industry should aim to make India become the manufacturing hub of Drones.

He called for integrating quality in full value chain and said it should not just come into picture once the final product is made. Underlining the need to develop technical skills of tomorrow for the industry, the Minister called for the need to reorient academic courses to make it relevant to the "needs of today".

Powered by Capital Market - Live News