Shares bounce back; Nifty reclaims 17,300 level

The benchmark indices bounced back in mid-morning trade. At 11:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 55.52 points or 0.10% at 57,947.53. The Nifty 50 index gained 10.30 points or 0.06% at 17,314.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.13% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.06%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1,390 shares rose and 1,740 shares fell. A total of 134 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,242.10 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 901.10 crore in the Indian equity market on 17 February 2022, provisional data showed.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slipped 0.40% to 34,497.10. The index shed 1.19% in three trading sessions.

Tech Mahindra (down 0.89%), Infosys (down 0.85%), Wipro (down 0.67%), HCL Technologies (down 0.46%) and Larsen & Toubro Infotech (LTI) (down 0.27%) were the top losers in the IT segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ambuja Cements dropped 4.88%. The company recorded 49.4% fall in standalone net profit to Rs 252 crore despite a 6.1% increase in net sales to Rs 3,679 crore in Q4 CY2021 over Q4 CY2020. Sales volume (cement + clinker) in Q4 CY21 was 7.2 million tons (up 3% Y-o-Y). Cement demand remained subdued, especially in the month of November 2021. Realisation improved by 4% to Rs 5,135 per ton in Q4 CY21 from Rs 4,926 per ton in Q4 CY20. Improvement in realization was on account of favourable geo mix and product mix, the cement maker said. During the quarter and year ended 31 December 2021, there was an exceptional charge of Rs 65.69 crore on account of restructuring cost. EBITDA fell by 26% to Rs 568 crore in Q4 CY2021 from Rs 768 crore in Q4 CY2020.

Gensol Engineering hit an upper circuit limit of 5% to Rs 259.45 after the company said it bagged deals worth over Rs 70 crore for building solar power projects of around 24 MWp cumulative capacity in the states of Madhya Pradesh and Punjab. Gensol Engineering has received purchase orders for the development of grid-connected ground-mount and rooftop solar power generation systems cumulating to a capacity of around 24 megawatt peak (MWp) in the states of Punjab and Madhya Pradesh. The cumulative price of these projects is pegged at over Rs 70 crore.

Global Markets:

Most Asian stocks declined on Friday after an exchange of fire in eastern Ukraine and renewed U.S. warnings of an imminent Russian invasion had investors looking for safety ahead of the weekend.

Russian-backed rebels and Kyiv`s forces reportedly traded accusations that each had fired across a ceasefire line on Thursday and U.S. president Joe Biden said his sense was that a Russian invasion "will happen in the next several days."

In the US, the number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits unexpectedly rose last week. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 23,000 to a seasonally adjusted 248,000 for the week ended February 12.

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