The domestic equity benchmarks ended with deep cuts on Thursday. The Nifty settled above 17,750 mark after hitting the day's low of 17,648.45 in mid-afternoon trade. IT, FMCG, pharma and healthcare stocks tumbled. Metals and realty shares bucked weak market trend.
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. Both these indices have fallen 3% in three consecutive sessions.
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 BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.07% and the BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.05%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1745 shares rose and 1663 shares fell. A total of 76 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.
Numbers to Watch:
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.608% as against 6.598% 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 74.51, compared with its close of 74.44 during the previous trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 4 February 2022 settlement rose 0.05% to Rs 48,399.
The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.06% to 95.57.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2022 settlement fell 33 cents at $88.11 a barrel. The contract rose 93 cents, or 1.06% to settle at $88.44 a barrel in the previous trading session.
Foreign 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.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index slipped 1.66% to 36,662.20. The index has fallen 5.58% in four days.
Mphasis (down 2.26%), Infosys (down 2.24%), TCS (down 2.08%), Coforge (down 1.26%), HCL Technologies (down 1.19%), Wipro (down 0.83%) and Tech Mahindra (down 0.07%) declined.
Mastek dropped 11.26%. 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.
L&T Infotech fell 1.44% after the IT company reported a 11% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 612 crore on a 9.8% rise in revenue to Rs 4137.6 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q2 FY22. The IT firm's consolidated net profit jumped 18% while revenues increased 31.2% in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Hindustan Unilever (HUL) fell 2.13%. The FMCG major posted 16.76% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 2,243 crore on 10.43% increase in revenue from operations to Rs 12,900 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.
Underlying domestic consumer business sales grew by 11%. Underlying volume growth at 2% was significantly ahead of the market. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) for the quarter at Rs 3,279 crore, grew by 15%. EBITDA margin at 25.4% improved by 100 bps versus the same quarter last year.
Bajaj Finserv tumbled 4.57% 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 0.81%. 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 3.89%. 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.
Tata Communications slumped 4.73%. 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%. 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 0.64%. 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%. The company has entered into an agreement for sale dated 19 January 2022 with Warren Tea for acquisition of Balijan North Tea Estate.
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