The domestic equity benchmarks ended with deep cuts on Thursday. After hitting the day's low at 17,648.45, the Nifty managed to pare some losses as it closed above the 17,750 mark. IT, FMCG, pharma and healthcare stocks tumbled. Metals and realty shares bucked weak market trend.

As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 634.20 points or 1.06% to 59,464.62. The Nifty 50 index lost 181.40 points or 1.01% to 17,757.

Persisting concerns over rising global inflation and the impending rate hikes by the US Fed triggered sharp selloff in the domestic market. Increasing coronavirus cases, unabated selling by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and muted corporate earnings further dampened the sentiment.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.07%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.05%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1745 shares rose and 1654 shares fell. A total of 85 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

In last 24 hours, India registered 3,17,532 new COVID-19 infections in a day, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Thursday. The country reported 491 new deaths taking the death toll to 4,87,693. The country recorded 2,23,990 recoveries, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,58,07,029. The active cases comprise 5.03% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 93.69%, the ministry said.

IPO Updates:

The initial public offer (IPO) of AGS Transact Technologies received bids for over 2.32 crore shares as against 2.86 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data at 15:11 IST on Wednesday, (19 January 2022). The issue was subscribed 0.81 times.

The issue opened for bidding on 19 January 2022 and it will close on 21 January 2022. The price band of the IPO is fixed at Rs 166-175. An investor can bid for a minimum of 85 equity shares and in multiples thereof. The IPO comprises an offer for sale aggregating up to Rs 680 crore.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty IT index slipped 1.66% to 36,661.80, extending its losing streak to fourth consecutive trading session. The IT index fell 5.58% in four days.

Infosys (down 2.28%), Mphasis (down 2.21%), TCS (down 2.11%), HCL Technologies (down 2.02%), Coforge (down 1.70%) and Wipro (down 0.89%) and were top losers in IT space while L&T Technology Services (up 1.03%) and MindTree (up 0.59%) managed to outperform.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Unilever shed 1.93% to Rs 2266.15, ahead of its Q3 earnings today.

Bajaj Finserv tumbled 4.58% to Rs 17259.95 after the NBFC reported a 2.6% drop in consolidated net profit to Rs 1255.79 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 1289.9 crore registered in Q3 FY21. The NBFC posted a 10.3% increase in total income to Rs 17,619 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

Asian Paints added 0.59% to Rs 3300.55. The company's consolidated net profit fell 18.49% to Rs 1,031.29 crore on a 25.61% surge in revenue from operations to Rs 8,527.24 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

Bajaj Auto fell 3.85% to Rs 3311. The auto major posted a 22% fall in net profit to Rs 1214 crore on 1% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 9022 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

Larsen & Toubro Infotech declined 1.17% to Rs 6614. The IT firm posted 11% rise in consolidated net income to Rs 612.5 crore on 9.8% rise in revenue to Rs 4137.60 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22.

Tata Communications slumped 5.08% to Rs 1445.05. The company posted a 28% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 395 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 309.4 crore reported in Q3 FY21. Gross revenue from operations declined 0.9% to Rs 4,185 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

Rallis India slumped 5.85% to Rs 277.40. The company posted a 13.3% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 40 crore on 10.1% rise in revenue to Rs 628 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

CEAT rose 1.54% to Rs 1150.85. The tyre maker posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 20.18 crore in Q3 FY22 as compared with net profit of Rs 132.34 crore in Q3 FY21. Total income rose to Rs 2416.44 crore from Rs 2225.30 crore.

Dhunseri Tea & Industries added 3.97% to Rs 318.20. The company has entered into an agreement for sale dated 19 January 2022 with Warren Tea for acquisition of Balijan North Tea Estate.

Mastek dropped 11.54% to Rs 2847. On a consolidated basis, the IT company's net profit rose 2.4% to Rs 83.50 crore on 3.4% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 551.90 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q2 September 2021.

Global markets:

European shares declined while most Asian stocks advanced on Thursday.

China on Thursday cut its one-year loan prime rate by 10 basis points, while its five-year LPR, which influences the pricing of home mortgages, was cut by 5 basis points, the first time since April 2020.

Inflation concerns have dominated markets around the world in recent months and investors are nervous over the U.S. Federal Reserve's trajectory for hiking interest rates and tightening its ultra-loose pandemic-era monetary policy.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News