Sensex tanks 1,159pts on broad-based sell-off; Nifty ends below 17,900

Financials led by PSU banks, realty, metal and FMCG shares where the major losers in trade. All NSE sectoral indices ended with losses of more than a per cent

Closing Bell

The key benchmark indices broke respective psychological levels in trade on Thursday amid heavy broad-based sell-off. While the Sensex closed 1,158 points lower at 59,985, the Nifty lost 354 points to end the day at 17,857 levels.

In the process, the Nifty has slipped below its 20-DMA, which has opened the door for further downside, technical chartists said.

"Relentless selling by FIIs is a key reason for this correction in the market. The next support level for the Nifty is around 17,650 level. Below this, 17,450-17,250 will be the next support zone. On the upside, 18,150-18,300 has become an immediate supply zone," said Santosh Meena, head of research at Swastika Investmart.

Morgan Stanley downgrades India

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley has become the latest foreign brokerage - after Nomura and UBS - to downgrade Indian equities. “We move tactically EW on India equities after strong relative gains - we expect a structural multi-year earnings recovery, but at 24x fwd P/E we look for some consolidation ahead of Fed tapering,an RBI hike in February and higher energy costs,” it said in a note.

Broad-based sell off

Financial shares, mainly PSU banks, metals and realty shares bore the brunt of the selling pressure on Thursday.

The broader indices also cracked in trade, with the NSE Midcap 150 index down 1.7 per cent, and the Smallcap 250 index down 1.6 per cent. India VIX jumped 6.4 per cent to 17.91.

Among sectors, the NSE PSU Bank index tanked over 5 per cent. The Bank Nifty, Realty and Metal indices slumped around 3.5 per cent each. All sectoral indices on the NSE were down over a per cent each, with FMCG, Media, Pharma and Oil & Gas as the other prominent losers.

ITC was the biggest percentage loser among the Sensex 30 stocks, it ended 5.5 per cent lower at Rs 225. ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank and Axis Bank tumbled around 4 per cent each.

SBI, HDFC Bank, Titan, NTPC, Sun Pharma, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, HCL Technologies, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and PowerGrid Corporation were the other major losers, down 2-3 per cent each.

On the other hand, IndusInd Bank was the major Sensex gainer, up 3 per cent at Rs 1,175. Larsen & Toubro, UltraTech Cement and Asian Paints were the other significant gainers.

Nykaa IPO update

Meanwhile, the much-awaited Nykaa IPO was subscribed 0.62 times on Day 1 of the bidding as of 15:15 hrs.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Markets at 02:30 PM

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices continued to trade on a weak note on the back of persistent selling pressure. The BSE Sensex was down 868 points at 60,275, and the NSE Nifty shed 267 points at 17,944.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were also down over a per cent each.

Among sectors, the BSE Realty index has tumbled over 3 per cent. FMCG, Telecom, Utilities, Oil & Gas and Power indices were the other major losers. All sectoral indices were in negative zone.

Cement stocks, however, traded on a firm note on expectation of strong demand outlook. ACC, UltraTech Cement, Ambuja Cements and India Cements were the prominent gainers. READ MORE
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Markets at Lunch (01:20 PM)

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices are languishing at lower levels owing to broad-based selling in the market. The BSE Sensex was down 547 points at 60,596, and the NSE Nifty shed 178 points at 18,033.

ITC has tumbled 5 per cent to Rs 227, despite reporting 10 per cent rise in Q2 net. Titan Industries, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, PowerGrid Corporation, Axis Bank and NTPC are the other prominent losers. IndusInd Bank and Larsen & Toubro, however, continue to trade firm, up 5 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively.

Market analyst at Angel One advises investors to remain cautious and avoid buy on dip strategy. "We expect the market to be volatile in the coming weeks and we expect selling pressure to continue in the broader market. We suggest investors be cautious on the market, look for profit booking and avoid buy on dip strategy."

The overall market breadth was fairly negative, 2,121 declining stocks versus 1,050 advancing shares on the BSE.
___________________________________________________________________________________________
Markets at noon

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices are off the day's low but are still trading about a per cent lower in noon deals on Thursday.

Significant profit booking in public sector banks, and select heavyweights like HDFC twins, ITC, ICICI Bank, Infosys, and Reliance Industries (RIL) is keeping the markets under pressure.

At 12:00 PM, the BSE Sensex was quoting at 60,736 levels, down 408 points. The Nifty50, on the other hand, was at 18,075, down 135 points.

On the results front, UCO Bank reported net profit of Rs 205.4 crore and NII of Rs 1,598 crore. The lender's asset quality improved in Q2FY22 with GNPA ratio falling to 9 per cent from 9.4 per cent QoQ while NNPA ratio impoved to  3.4 per cent from 3.95 per cent QoQ. The shares are up 1 per cent.

Nykaa IPO update: The initial public offer of FSN Ecommerce Venutres, the parent company of Nykaa, has been subscribed 34 per cent so far. The retail quota has been subscribed 1.6x while NII portion has been subscribed 7 per cent. 
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Markets at 11 AM

LIVE market updates: Sell-off has intensified on Dalal Street as investors rush to offload shares in the public sector banking, metals, and realty space aggressively. Their respective sectoral indices were down around 3 per cent each.

At 11:06 AM, the Sensex index was quoting at 60,510 levels, down 633 points, while the Nifty50 was testing the 18,000-mark at 18,009, down 202 points.

Market breadth is favouring sellers with over 2,000 stocks declining on the BSE as against around 970 advances. Volatility index, India VIX, too, climbed 5 per cent to 18- mark.

The broader BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were down 1 per cent each.

____________________________________________________________________________________________
Markets at 10 AM

LIVE market updates: Indian equities extended their decline were trading near the day's low in morning deals. The BSE Sensex, which touched a low of 60,680 earlier today, was quoting at 60,724 levels, down 419 points at 10:11 AM.

The broader 50-share Nifty index, on the other hand, was testing 18,050 level at 18,072.

23 of the 30 Sensex constituents and 40 of the 50 Nifty constituents were in the red. Individually, Adani Ports tanked 6 per cent and was the top loser on the Nifty index. This was followed by Hindalco, ONGC, Titan, ITC, Coal India, and ICICI Bank.

Limiting the downside, however, were shares of IndusInd Bank (up 5 per cent), L&T, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Auto, and M&M.

Shares of IndusInd Bank surged 6.4 per cent to Rs 1,214.90 on the BSE in Thursday’s intra-day trade after the bank posted steady operational performance for the quarter ended September 2021 (Q2FY22), with net interest income (NII) rising by 11.6 per cent year-on-year (YoY) and 2.7 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to Rs 3,658 crore on the back of stable margins and sequential pick up in loan growth. READ MORE

On the upside, shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rallied 15 per cent to Rs 949.65 on the BSE in Thursday's intra-day trade after the scrip turned ex-stock split (sub-division of equity shares) in ratio of 1:5. READ HERE

In the currency market, the rupee opened higher at 74.95 per US dollar relative to Wednesday's close of 75.03/$

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: Benchmarks started in the negative territory on Thursday, ahead of the monthly F&O expiry later today. In early deals, the BSE Sensex was at 60,962 levels, down 181 points or 0.3 per cent led dragged by Titan, ICICI Bank, and ITC.

It's NSE counterpart Nifty50, on the other hand, was at 18,139 levels, down 72 points or 0.4 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices slipped up to 0.34 per cent. 

Among individual stocks, shares of ITC dipped 2 per cent after the cigarette-to-hotels major reported a 10.09 per cent YoY increase in consolidated profit at Rs 3,763.73 crore in the September quarter of FY22, led by a recovery across segments.

Meanwhile, those of Titan shed 4 per cent after the jewellery firm's net profit jumped 270.5 per cent to Rs 641 crore in Q2FY22 when compared to Rs 173 crore during the same period last year at a consolidated level, riding on recovery in demand across its consumer businesses. 

Shares of IndusInd Bank, and L&T were up 4 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively on the back of Q2 results. 

Sectorally, all except the Nifty Healthcare index were trading in the red led by the Nifty PSU Bank index (down 2.4 per cent) and the Nifty Metal index (down 2 per cent).

___________________________________________________________________________________________
Pre-open session (Updated at 9:07 AM)

LIVE market updates: Pre-open session is indicating a negative start for the benchmark indices. The BSE barometer of 30-shares is down 61 points at 61,083 levels while the Nifty50 is at 18,187 levels, down 23 points.

IndusInd Bank, Titan, and L&T were the top Sensex gainers in pre-open session.

==========================================================
Updated at 8:10 AM

LIVE market updates: Expiry of the October F&O series, along with the on-going corporate results season, is expected to keep the secondary markets volatile on Thursday.

Around 150 companies including Bajaj Finserv, CarTrade Tech, DLF, InterGlobe Aviation, JK Tyre, Marico, NTPC, Tata Power, SBI Card, and Westlife Development are slated to report their Q2 results today.

Nykaa IPO opens today

The much awaited Rs 5,320-crore IPO by Nykaa will open for subscription in a price band of Rs 1,085 - Rs 1,125 per share. 

While most analysts recommend subscribing to the issue from a long-term perspective, they do caution against the valuation and online segment that the company operates in.

Global cues

Shares in Asia-Pacific were mixed in Thursday trade as investors await the Bank of Japan’s latest monetary policy announcement.

The Nikkei 225 in Japan declined 0.88 per cent while the Topix index shed 0.65 per cent. Mainland Chinese stocks were also lower, with the Shanghai composite slipping about 0.6 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index climbed 0.24 per cent.

Elsewhere, South Korea’s Kospi traded 0.24 per cent higher. Shares in Australia declined as the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.26 per cent. Meanwhile, SGX Nifty was up just 4 points at 18,215 levels at 8:08 AM.

Overnight stateside, the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 266.19 points to 35,490.69 while the S&P 500 slipped about 0.51 per cent to 4,551.68. The Nasdaq Composite was flat at 15,235.84.

Brent crude futures
Oil prices were lower in the morning of Asia trading hours, with international benchmark Brent crude futures slipping 2.12% to $82.79 per barrel. U.S. crude futures declined 1.9% to $81.09 per barrel.