Bears tighten grip; Sensex slips 400 pts, Nifty holds 15,200; PSBs rally

Stock market updates: Equity stock markets were in bear grip as profit-booking dragged indices lower across the globe. While Japan's Nikkei edged down 0.58 per cent to 30,292, South Korea's benchmark Kospi index ended down 0.93 per cent at 3,134 after the country reported the highest number of new Covid-19 cases in over a month.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index was down 0.4 per cent, while London's mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 0.2 per cent.

Back home, the headline S&P BSE Sensex declined 400 points, or 0.77 per cent, to end below the 52,000-mark at 51,704 levels. Losses in heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, HDFC, TCS, Infosys, HUL, and Asian Paints dragged the index nearly 300 points down today.

Overall, Nestle (down 3 per cent), Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, and IndusInd Bank were the top losers on the BSE barometer. However, gains of 3 per cent in State Bank of India, and up to 2 per cent in Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, and Axis Bank helped trim losses.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index ended below the 15,250-mark at 15,209 level, down 104 points or 0.68 per cent.

In the intra-day session, the Sensex and the Nifty indices touched a low of 51,586 and 15,171, respectively.

The broader markets, however, bucked the trend and ended higher. Riding on up to 20 per cent gains in Bank of Maharashtra, Indian Overseas Bank, Central Bank of India, Greaves Cotton, and Shankara Building Products, the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.5 per cent higher. Meanwhile, the mid-cap counterpart settled 0.02 per cent up.

On the sectoral front, IT and pharma stocks bore the maximum brunt with the Nifty IT and Pharma indices closing 1.3 per cent and 1.7 per cent down, respectively. The Nifty Financial Services and FMCG indices, too, ended up to 1 per cent down. On the upside, the Nifty PSU bank index settled around 6 per cent higher on privatisation hopes.

Buzzing stocks

Shares of Nestle ended 2.8 per cent lower today after sliding 5 per cent in the intra-day after the firm's December quarter numbers failed to meet Street's expectations. The company on Tuesday, after market hours, posted a 2.25 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net profit to Rs 483.31 crore for the fourth quarter ended December. READ MORE

Shares of Happiest Minds Technologies, meanwhile, hit a new high of Rs 484 as they hit 20 per cent upper circuit on the BSE in intra-day trade on Wednesday on the back of heavy volumes in an otherwise weak market. In the past seven trading days, the stock has rallied 33 per cent after its net profit nearly doubled to Rs 42.15 crore in the December quarter (Q3FY21), against Rs 21.38 crore in the year-ago quarter. Global brokerage Nomura has 'Buy' call on the stock with a target of Rs 480. READ MORE

That apart, shares of Info Edge India declined 4.4 per cent in today's intra-day session to hit a low of Rs 4,865 per share. With today's slide, the share price has tumbled 12 per cent in two days after analysts cautioned against the stock's expensive valuation post Q3 nos. READ MORE

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:44 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Keshav Lahoti, associate equity analyst at Angel Broking

Indian shares opened opened slightly lower on the back of weak Asian cues as investors eyed the minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting. Nifty closed down by 0.7%. Nestle India slumped nearly 2.8% on disappointing quarterly results.  Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone jumped 3% after it completed the acquisition of 100 percent stake of Dighi Port Limited for Rs705 crore. Global cues were negative: Dow Futures and Nasdaq Futures were flat, whereas FTSE was down by 0.4%. Market fundamentals and sentiments are strong to take the market to new highs. Continuous FII Inflow is very important for the rally in the market.

 

4:31 PM

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

Indian benchmark equity indices ended in the negative for the second consecutive session on February 17 despite a rally in PSU bank stocks.  Nifty fell after making an intra day high at 1240 Hrs. At close, the Nifty was down 104.60 points or 0.68% at 15,208.90.

 

Volumes on the NSE were in line with recent averages. Among sectors PSU Bank, Media gained the most, while Pharma, IT, Realty fell the most. The Midcap index ended 0.3% higher while the Small cap index ended flat.

 

Nifty formed lower top lower bottom formation on Feb 17 after the recent rise, raising concerns about the rally getting tired. However an equal advance decline ratio on a negative day means that some bottom fishing has happened in stocks that have corrected over the last few days. 15112-15170 could be the next support band for Nifty. On rise 15340 could act as a resistance.  

 

 

4:20 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

While Indices corrected today on the back of profit-taking in Blue Chips, the action shifted to Mid & Small Caps as several stocks across sectors were seen buzzing around on the back of news flow and investor appetite

 

4:09 PM

TECH VIEW :: Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research, CapitalVia Global Research

The market failed to show resilience to stay above the Nifty 50 Index level of 15250 on a sustained basis. While it is subject to further price action evolution, the technical factors are shifted today to support a sideways correction in the future. The corrective wave down should find support around 15100-15150. As such, the traders are advise to refrain from building a new buying position until we witness a breakout of 15370.

 

3:59 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities

Index opened a day with a gap down & managed to hold its bearish steam throughout the day and closed a day at 15210 with loss of nearly one per cent with forming a bearish candle for the second consecutive day. The index closed a day below its strong support of 15250 which hints now 15250 will the immediate hurdle on the higher side and we may see good move once index decisively move above 15250 odd levels, immediate support is now placed at 15140-15090 zone and resistance is coming near 15300-15380 zone

3:58 PM

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

The Indian market opened low replicating the weak global trend due to rising bond yield and inflation. PSU Banks which were in the limelight on reports of privatisation continued to ride its uptrend. Mid and small-cap stocks remained firm and outperformed the benchmark indices

 

3:58 PM

MARKET OUTLOOK :: Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities

Markets have established a medium term uptrend and expected to scale 16000 and higher. In the short term, extended phase of consolidation is expected. Immediate support for the index is seen at 15000 above which 15500-15700 can be tested; while breach can invite a quick correction. We suggest accumulating frontline stocks on meaningful corrections. IT, FMCG and Energy stocks look attractive while Metals and Realty could witness consolidation

3:57 PM

Market stats :: Market breadth favours bulls despite a 0.8% cut in headline indices

3:55 PM

SECTOR WATCH :: PSB stocks shrug sell-off fears

3:53 PM

SECOR WATCH :: Nifty Pharma settles as worst performer; Lupin, Divis Labs skid up to 3%

3:50 PM

STOCK OF THE DAY :: Nestle India ends nearly 3% down on lower-than-expected Q3 nos

3:48 PM

STOCK OF THE DAY :: Happiest Minds Tech locked in 20% upper circuit at close

3:46 PM

STOCK OF THE DAY :: Adani Ports ends over 2.5% higher on Dighi port acquisition

3:45 PM

Sectoral trends on NSE at Close

3:43 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close