Sensex slips 291 pts amid weak global cues; pharma, PSB stocks rally

Stock market updates: After clocking one-way rally over the past two days, domestic indices took a breather on Wednesday to digest news flow around record Covid-19 fatalities in the country along with global inflation fears. 

India's daily virus cases rose marginally on Wednesday with over 267,000 fresh cases. With this, the new infection count has remained below the 300,000-mark for the third consecutive day.  However, the country reported a national record of 4,529 new deaths which, analysts say, remains a cause of concern. The country has been reporting over 4,000 deaths per day for over a week now.

Globally, stocks dipped and cryptocurrencies extended losses on Wednesday as uncertainties over inflation prompted investors to reduce exposure to riskier assets for now. Investors concerned about rising inflation will be keeping a close eye on the Federal Open Market Committee as it publishes the minutes from its April meeting later today.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.1 per cent in early deals while in Asia, Japan's Nikkei erased 1.3 per cent, China's CSI300 slipped 0.3 per cent, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index tumbled 2 per cent.

With these dual concerns in mind, domestic investors booked profit, marjorly in large-caps, on Dalal Street. After a gap-down start, the BSE barometer of 30-shares managed to eke out slim gains in the intra-day deals but tumbled nearly 450 points from the day's high to hit a low of 49,831. The index settled the day at 49,903 levels, down 291 points or 0.58 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index defended the crucial 15,000-mark and closed at 15,030 levels, down 78 points or 0.52 per cent. Earlier today, it hit a low of 15,008.

Coal India, Cipla, Sun Pharma, UPL, Nestle India, Indian Oil Corporation, Tech M, Axis Bank, and SBI Life were the top gainers of the day, up between 1 per cent and 4 per cent, while Tata Motors, HDFC, M&M, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and Kotak Bank were the top laggards, down up to 5 per cent.

In the broader market space, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended 0.53 per cent and 0.35 per cent higher, respectively. 

Sectorally, the trend was largely mixed. The Nifty Financial Services index declined 1 per cent, followed by 0.9 per cent loss each in the Nifty Private Bank and Metal indices. On the upside, the Nifty Realty index zoomed over 2 per cent while the Nifty Pharma index added 1 per cent.

Buzzing stocks

Shares of Tata Motors dipped 6 per cent to Rs 312.95 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday on account of profit booking in the counter even as the firm reported a strong operational performance for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21), led by its UK subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and its India business. It also narrowed consolidated loss, which was mainly on account of exceptional items. READ MORE

Shares of Birla Corporation traded higher for the eight straight days, up 7 per cent at Rs 1,289.65 on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade, after reporting a strong set of numbers for the quarter ended March 2021 (Q4FY21). It was trading close to its all-time high level of Rs 1,290, touched on January 8, 2018. READ MORE

Shares of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank tumbled 8.1 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 28 apiece on the BSE on Wednesday after the lender's asset quality worsensed in the March quarter. Gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio rose from 0.97 per cent last year and 0.96 per cent (4.8 per cent as per pro-forma) in Q3FY21 to 7.1 per cent in the quarter ended March 2021 which worried Street. READ MORE

Gland Pharma shares hit a new high of Rs 3,266, up 7 per cent on the BSE, in intra-day trade on Wednesday. In the last two days, the scrip has surged 17 per cent after the company reported a healthy 34 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in its consolidated net profit to Rs 260.4 crore in the March 2021 quarter (Q4FY21) on robust sales. READ MORE

4:55 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Sec

The market remained completely calm in the first session of the trading session, however, we witnessed a vertical decline in the second half due to a sudden fall in US stock futures. The Nifty fell by 77 points while the Sensex fell by 290 points. Shares of Finance and Metals were among the losers, while pharmaceutical and realty stocks rose marginally. The Nifty has formed a classic inverted hammer after hitting a major level at 15140. It can be either bearish or bullish continuation for the market. If the market falls below 14980, the chances of hitting 14900/14850 levels would be brighter. On the other hand, the refusal to come down to the level of 14980 would be positive for the market. Resistance would be at 15150 and 15250 levels. Technically, we feel this is a temporary break that the market has taken after rallying for 700 points. After completing the corrective consolidation, we could see upward move in the market

4:45 PM

TECH VIEW :: Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

The profit booking has emerged in the market from the highs as anticipated and one may expect further weakness for the next 1-2 sessions to form a new higher bottom. At the lower side, 14900 is expected to act as a crucial lower support and the market is expected to bounce back from the lows

4:31 PM

TECH VIEW :: Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking

Technically, the nifty index has faced resistance from the upper band of Bollinger, which indicates downside movement for the upcoming session. Moreover, the recent candle also formed like a Shooting Star Candlestick on the daily chart, which is a sign of some correction. Hourly Oscillator Stochastic has indicated negative crossover, which supports the short-term correction in the near term. At present, the nifty index is holding support at 14940 levels while an upside resistance seems at 15200 levels.

4:15 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities

ndian benchmark equity indices gave up some of the previous session gains and the Nifty ended 0.52 percent lower at 15030 on May 19. Nifty opened lower, made a few attempts to rise and stay in positive territory, but failed.  

 

Volumes on the NSE were a little below the recent averages. Among sectors, Realty, Power and Healthcare were the main gainers while Telecom, Metals, Banks and Auto were the main losers. BSE Midcap and smallcap indices ended in the green.

 

Nifty made a double top – the same as the previous day and later fell to enter the upgap area. Lower volume on May 19 suggests absence of enthusiasm on the part of traders at these levels especially in the face of the negative inflation and commodity price data and release of US Fed minutes. 14938-14967 will be the support for the Nifty while 15137 will act as a resistance. 

4:05 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The recent sharp rally has triggered some caution for the near-term. The global market was tentative ahead of the announcement of Fed minutes, this was mirrored in the domestic market, though it is not expected to hawkish. Optimism gained from declining covid cases resisted a sharp correction in domestic market

3:59 PM

BSE Snapshot :: 309 stocks hit 52-week highs on the BSE today

3:58 PM

Sector Watch :: Nifty Metal index turns volatile after one-way rally over the past 2 months

3:56 PM

Sector Watch :: 14 of the 20 constituents on the Financial Services index end in the red

3:55 PM

Sector Watch :: Nifty Pharma index adds 1%

3:54 PM

Sector Watch :: Nifty Realty gains 2%; Oberoi Realty jumps 8%

3:52 PM

Broader market :: S&P BSE SmallCap index ends off highs

3:51 PM

Broader market :: S&P BSE MidCap index holds gains, ends half a per cent higher

3:49 PM

NSE Snapshot :: Top Nifty50 gainers today

3:47 PM

Top drags on the Sensex today

3:45 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE