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Informist, Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024

By Alina Geogy

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended sharply lower Tuesday as index heavyweights HDFC Bank and State Bank of India fell sharply. Mid- and small-cap indices also took a beating. Of all the Nifty 50 constituents, 43 stocks ended down, and nearly three-fourth of all stocks traded on the National Stock Exchange closed in the red.

Besides weaker-than-expected Jul-Sept earnings, selling by foreign institutional investors is to blame for the ongoing market fall, Vanitha Poojari, equity research analyst at Maximus Securities, said. Foreign institutional investors likely pulled out their money from banking stocks, particularly HDFC Bank, which is their favourite, she said. HDFC Bank could have also taken a hit because of profit-booking, especially it gained for the past two sessions, she said. The shares closed down nearly 3%, snapping a two-day winning streak.

The key indices were largely flat in the first half of the session and then dived owing to a fall in bank stocks. In fact, the Nifty 50 mirrored the fall of the Nifty Bank index. The Nifty 50 closed at 23883.45 points, down 257.85 points or 1.1%. The Sensex settled at 78675.18 points, down 820.97 points or 1%.

The Nifty 50 is now down over 9% or nearly 2400 points from its all-time high of 26277.35 points, which it hit on Sept. 27. Similarly, the Sensex is also down around 8.5% or over 7300 points from its lifetime high of 85978.25 points hit on Sept. 27. The Nifty small-cap indices closed down 1.3-1.5%, and the Nifty mid-cap indices closed around 1% lower each.

Shares of Britannia Industries hit a six-month low and closed down 7.5%, its largest single-day fall since an 8% decline in March 2020, following disappointments on the earnings front. The stock extended early losses during the company's post-earnings conference call held earlier in the day, in which the management said it expects some impact on its sales volumes in the next six to nine months. Britannia also said it would increase prices of select products by 4-5% in Oct-Mar due to raw material inflation. The company had, after market hours Monday, reported a lower-than-expected net profit and revenue for Jul-Sept. The stock was the worst hit in the Nifty 50 index, followed by shares of NTPC and Bharat Electronics, which closed down over 3%.

Except for Nifty IT and Nifty Realty, all the sectoral indices ended in the red. The Nifty Auto and Nifty PSU Bank closed down nearly 2% each and were the worst hit. The Nifty Auto fell for the fourth consecutive session, with all 15 constituents in the red. Shares of Bosch and Samvardhana Motherson International closed down around 5% and were the worst hit in the automobile index. Shares of Samvardhana Motherson extended losses after the company's consolidated net profit for Jul-Sept missed analysts' estimates. Shares of Bosch fell in anticipation of the company's Jul-Sept earnings, which were released just after the market closed. The company's net profit for the September quarter fell over 46% on year. 

Information technology stocks were the top gainers for yet another day, taking the Nifty IT index up for the third consecutive day. The index was up for most of the session and rose as much as 0.7% earlier in the day. But weakness in the overall market weighed on the sector in the last half an hour of trade, leading the Nifty IT to close up only 0.1%. IT stocks are likely tracking the gains in the US market, where headline indices are at record highs following Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election, which has raised expectations of favourable business policies in the US.

Shares of Triveni Turbine closed nearly 4% higher after the company late Monday reported an 85% year-on-year jump in its net profit for the September quarter, beating analysts' estimates. Shares of BASF India closed down nearly 15% after the company reported a 42% sequential decline in its consolidated net profit for Jul-Sept.

Shares of Sagility India, which listed on the exchanges Tuesday, closed at INR 29.32, down 2.3% against the issue price of INR 30. The stock had listed at INR 31.06, a premium of 3.5% to its issue price on both exchanges. However, it failed to hold onto these gains.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 7 rose and 43 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 6 rose and 24 fell

* On the NSE, 674 stocks rose, 2,117 fell, and 73 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 1,224 stocks rose, 2,744 fell, and 93 were unchanged

* Nifty Auto: down 1.94%; Nifty PSU Bank: down 1.92%; Nifty Realty: up 0.18%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 78675.18, down 820.97 points or 1.03%     Nifty 50: 23883.45, down 257.85 points or 1.07%

End

Edited by Ashish Shirke

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