MARKETS: Sensex falls 150 pts, Nifty holds 17,500, RIL, ICICI Bank slip 1%

Markets at 12 noon

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices were seen extending losses in noon deal after being choppy on the last day of the week. The BSE Sensex was at 58,642, down 145 points and the NSE Nifty was 36 points lower at 17,524.

Barring Metals, healthcare, cosumer durables and energy stocks, all Nifty indices were trading lower, led by Nifty Realty, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Auto.

ALSO READ: Sustained growth in these three segments will drive ITC stock’s re-rating

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index was 0.2 per cent lower, led by losses in Godrej Properties, Zee Entertainment, M&M Finance, Max Financial Services, RBL Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, BayerCrop, Concor, TVS Motors and InfoEdge, down 1.6-7 per cent. The SmallCap index was largely muted.

BS SPECIAL: Nifty Metal index can hit historic high; Hindalco, NMDC may rally up to 17%

In the primary market, the IPO of Vedant Fashions was off to a slow start and had been subscribed only 0.08 times so far on day 1, while the retail investor portion was subscribed the highest at 0.13 times.

Among stocks, shares of Sharda Cropchem and Deepak Fertilisers and Petrochemicals Corp continued their upward movement, zooming up to 91 per cent in the past four weeks on robust results for the December quarter. Today, Sharda Cropchem rallied 8.3 per cent, while Deepak Fertilisers was locked in the 5 per cent upper circuit as the two hit their respective all-time highs on the BSE. READ MORE HERE.

Asian markets

Markets in Asia were mostly positive on Friday. The Nikkei index gained 0.7 per cent. Kospi was up 1.5 per cent. Hang Seng index had added 3.25 per cent , while China’s Shenzhen Component and Shanghai Composite were down 0.5 and 0.97 per cent.

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Markets at 11 AM

LIVE market updates:

The headline indices continued to tread in the red zone confined in a narrow band in a volatile market. The BSE Sensex was 75 points lower at 58,713, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,544, down 16 points.

RIL, ICICI Bank, TCS, HUL and Kotak Bank were the top five drags on the Sensex, while auto majors Hero MotoCorp, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and M&M were the top Nifty losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index extended losses and was trading 0.13 per cent lower, while the SmallCap index was slightly outperforming the benchmarks trading marginally up.

ALSO READ: Sensex can hit 100,000 mark in five years, believes Chris Wood

Sectorally, the Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices had shed its gains and were largely flat now. Realty, Auto and PSU Bank Nifty indices were the major losers, down 0.5-1 per cent, while, Nifty IT had pared losses and was up marginally.

Among stocks, Ambika Cotton hit a record high of Rs 2,590, on rallying 12 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The stock has surged as much as 25 per cent in the last two trading sessions after ace investor Vijay Kedia bought nearly 1 per cent stake in textile company through open market on Thursday.READ MORE.

On the flip side, Welspun India was trading nearly 5 per cent lower on weak Q3 earnings. The company reported a 2.8 per cent QoQ decrease in revenues while its consolidated EBITDA margins also came in lower sequentially at 11.4 per cent vs 16.2 per cent, impacted primarily by surge in raw material and logistics cost.

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Markets at 10 AM

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices were volatile in early morning trade after starting on a lower note as IT stocks traded weak in line with US tech stock rout overnight. The BSE Sensex was up 50 points at 58,837, while the NSE Nifty was just 6 points higher at 17,567.

Tata Steel was the top Sensex gainer, up 2 per cent ahead of its Q3 earnings. Ultratech Cement, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank , owerGrid, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, L&T, SBI and NTPC were the other gainers, up between 0.5-1.8 per cent.

On the flip side, Wipro, Titan, RIL, ITC, HCL Tech, TCS, Infosys, HUL, Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, and Tata Consumer were the top losers on the bourses.

READ: Here’s why HDFC Securities recommends a Bull spread on IDFC February series

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index was marginally up by 0.05 per cent, while the SmallCap index was trading 0.34 per cent higher.

Among stocks, shares of Godrej Properties slumped 10 per cent to Rs 1,502.35 after its board approved an investment of Rs 400 crore in DB Realty (DBR), to acquire around 10 per cent stake through the issue of warrants. READ MORE HERE.

On the upside, Thomas Cook (India) was trading nearly 5 per cent higher on the BSE on the back of its Q3 results. The holiday planners reported narrowed consolidated net loss at Rs 24.59 crore for the December quarter. The company had posted a consolidated net loss of Rs 66.24 crore in the same quarter last fiscal.

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Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices started on a muted note in line with weak global cues. The BSE Sensex was at 58,629, down 159 points, while the Nifty50 was 42 points lower at 17,518. The two indices were 0.2 per lower.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were also in red and were down by up to 0.3 per cent.

Among the Sensex-30 constituents, ITC, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, SBI, Ultratech Cement and Sun Pharma were the top gainers. On the Nifty, ONGC and Hindalco were the additional gainers, up 1-2 per cent.

Meanwhile, Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Reliance and HCL Tech were the top losers on the Sensex. Tata Consumer and Hero MotoCorp were the top laggards on the Nifty.

Sectorally, the Nifty Realty and IT indices were leading the losses, down by up to 0.8 per cent, while Nifty Bank and Nifty Metal were the gainers. Auto index, along with Pharma were largely muted.

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Pre-open session

LIVE market updates:

The benchmark indices were seen holding gains in the pre-open trades with the BSE Sensex up 104 points at 58,892 and the NSE Nifty at 17,587, higher by 27 points.

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LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices are expected to open on a muted note on Friday after a sell-off session the day before. At 8:10 am, the SGX Nifty futures were quoting 17,585 level, around 30 points up from Nifty’s spot close the previous day.

Today, majors ITC and Titan may see action after the two reported their Q3 results on Thursday. The cigarettes-to-hotels major reported a 14.8 per cent YoY increase in consolidated net at Rs 4,118.80 crore in Q3FY22, led by growth across segments, whereas the latter reported a sharp 91 per cent YoY surge in Q3 profit to Rs 1,004 crore.

That apart, Bank of India, Devyani International, Paytm, Tata Steel, Shree Cement, Bank of India, InterGlobe Aviation and Vijaya Diagnostics will be in focus ahead of their Q3 earnings today.

In the primary markets, ‘Manyavar’ brand owner Vedant Fashions IPO opens for subscription today. The company plans to raise up to Rs 3,150 crore. The price band of the issue is fixed at Rs 824 to Rs 866 per share.

Global cues

Overnight in the US, stocks snapped their 4-day winning run as Facebook-owner Meta Platforms registered the biggest-ever single day fall in value by an US company. Its market cap eroded by $200 bn on account of a 26.4 per cent fall in the share price. The earlier dubious record was held by Apple, when it shed $180 billion value in a single day on September 3, 2020.

The Dow Jones shed 1.5 per cent, the S&P 500 index dropped 2.4 per cent and the Nasdaq plunged 3.7 per cent on Thursday.

Meanwhile, oil prices spiraled higher on Thursday as a winter storm across the central, northeast US added to the supply woes. Brent Crude surged 1.8 per cent to $91.11 a barrel, and WTI Crude soared 2.1 per cent to $90.27 a barrel.