Sensex ends choppy day 85 pts up; Wipro sinks 6%; Nifty Metal rallies 3.5%

Closing Bell

Frontline indices whipsawed around the flat line on Thursday as tepid economic data back home and sombre global mood hit sentiment. Besides, weekly F&O expiry also added to the volatility. 

After starting around 150 points higher at 61,260, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex hit a high of 61,348 but erased all the gains to enter the red zone. The index hit a low of 60,950 but managed to eke out gains in the fag-end of the session to close at 61,235. This was 85 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher than yesterday's close.

Following a similar trajectory, the NSE Nifty50 hit a high of 18,272 and a low of 18,164 during the day. It ended at 18,257, up 44 points or 0.24 per cent.

Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Coal India, Sun Pharma, UPL, Divis Labs, and L&T were the top gainers on the 50-share index, rising between 2 and 6 per cent.

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Among the lot, the shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) hit a new high of Rs 2,018 in the intra-day trade today, after the company announced that a consortium led by L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) has secured mega contracts, worth over Rs 7,000 crore, for two offshore packages from a prestigious overseas client. READ MORE

That apart, the shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries hit an over five-year high at Rs 871 on expectation of good earnings growth. The stock of drug maker was trading at its highest level since March 2016. READ MORE

On the downside, Wipro slumped 6 per cent and ended as the worst performer on the Nifty in today's trade. Shares of the company fell after the company's Q3FY22 earnings fell short of market expectation. READ MORE

Other draggers on the bourses were Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, HCL Tech, and Maruti Suzuki. Shares of these companies shed in the range of 1-2.5 per cent.

The broader markets, however, outperformed the benchmarks by a meagre margin. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended 0.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent higher, respectively. 

Among sectors, the Nifty Metal index zoomed 3.5 per cent on the NSE today while the Nifty Realty index slumped 0.8 per cent.

The overall market breadth was neck and neck with 1,745 stocks advancing on the BSE and 1,678 stocks declining. About 76 stocks ended unchanged.

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Markets at 02:30 PM

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices remain trapped in the day's narrow range so far. The BSE Sensex was down 33 points at 61,117, while the NSE Nifty 50 index had added three points to 18,216.

The broader indices continue to hold marginal gains. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were up 0.3 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

Among sectoral indices, the BSE Metal index surged over 3 per cent led by Tata Steel. The Healthcare, Capital Goods and Power indices were up around a per cent each. Whereas, the Bankex and Realty index were down 0.8 per cent each.

The overall market breadth was neutral. Out of 3,470 stocks traded so far on the BSE, 1,692 advanced and 1,685 declined on the BSE.

In the broader markets, as many as 378 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high, while mere five stocks hit a new 52-week low in trade so far.
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Markets at Lunch (01:30 PM)

LIVE market updates: The key benchmark indices continued to gyrate between zones albiet in a thin range. The BSE Sensex had so far moved in a range of 400-points, from a high of 61,349 the index slipped to a low of 60,950, and was down five points at 61,145. The Nifty had advanced 14 points to 18,226.

Tata Steel and Sun Pharma were the major gainers in the Sensex-30 pack, up 4.6 per cent and 3.3 per cent, respectively. PowerGrid, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv and Mahindra & Mahindra were the other    prominent gainers.



Wipro continued to trade at lower levels, down 5.5 per cent at Rs 653. Maruti, Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement and Axis Bank were the other notable losers.

In the broader markets, Pricol soared 13 per cent to hit an all-time high of Rs 135.30 after rating agency ICRA reaffirmed ratings of instruments of the company with a stable outlook. READ MORE

GMDC, Godawari Power Ispat, TCNS Clothing, Jindal Stainless, Hathway Cable, Sunflag Iron, Heritage Foods, Dwarikesh Sugar, Tanla Platforms, Tejas Networks, Jindal Steel & Power, Trident, Praj Industries, Costal Corporation, Vishal Fabrics, Superhouse, Shree Phuskar Chemicals, United Drilling Tools, Poddar Housing, NDR Auto Components, Indian  Merchant Banking Services and Mangalam Seeds were the other major gainers in the broader markets so far.

Whereas on the losing side, JP Power, CSB Bank, JP Associates, Suzlon, Camlin Fine Sciences, Sheela Foam, Alphalogic Techsys, Bhakti Gems and Jewellery, GNA Axles, Vaswani Industries, Asian Tiles, Hindustan Motors, GRM Overseas, RCI Industries, Agri Tech, Anand Rayons, Oricon Enterprises and Nahar  Industrial Enterprises were few of the prominent stocks.
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Markets at 12 Noon

LIVE market updates: The frontline indices were seen holding mild gains in a volatile market. The BSE Sensex was up 75 points at 61,225, and the NSE Nifty was at 18,246, higher by 34 points.

The broader markets were seen putting an outperformace with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices up 0.3 and 0.5 per cent higher, respectively. All the broader indices on the NSE were also largely positive. 

Also read: HCL Tech Q3: Analysts see up to 6% QoQ growth in profit; margins may expand

Infosys and TCS, along with Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, L&T and HDFC were supporting the mild gains of the indices. 

Shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries hit an over five-year high at Rs 871, up 4 per cent on the BSE on expectation of good earnings growth. The stock of drug maker was trading at its highest level since March 2016. It surpassed its previous high of Rs 860 touched on January 3, 2022. READ HERE TO KNOW MORE.

Among sectors, bank, auto, IT, realty were all in the red. Metals and Pharma indices on the NSE were still the main gainers, up nearly 3 and 2 per cent higher, respectively. 
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Markets at 11 AM

LIVE market updates: The headline indices were choppy in morning trade amid selling pressure in banking counters such as HDFC  Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Bank, along with IT stocks--Wipro (down 6 per cent) and HCL Technology (down 2 per cent). 

The BSE Sensex was 30 points lower at 61,118 and the NSE Nifty was largely unchanged at 18, 216. 

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index too was muted, while the SmallCap index was up by 0.3 per cent. 

Maruti, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Titan and Nestle, HUL, and ICICI Bank were the other top losers on the Sensex. 

Among sectors, the IT index was among the major losers, down 0.8 per cent. IT majors TCS (up 0.2 per cent) and Infosys ( down 0.1 per cent) had shed their opening gains. 

BS Special: Q3 earnings impact: Infy, TCS can rally up to 10%, Wipro may weaken further

That apart, the shares of One97 Communications, the parent company of digital payments major Paytm, hit a new low of Rs 1,063.75, falling 51 per cent against its issue price of Rs 2,150 on the BSE. READ MORE HERE.

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Markets at 10 AM

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices steadily held opening gains in early morning trade. The BSE Sensex was 115 points higher at 61,265, while the NSE Nifty was 37 points up at 18,250. 

On the Sensex, Tata Steel and PowerGrid were the leading gainers, up 3 per cent each, followed by Sun Pharma, NTPC, ITC, L&T and RIL.

On the flip side, Wipro was the biggest loser, down 5 per cent, after the company fell short of market expectation, as it’s net profit was up 1.3 per cent on a quarter on quarter (QoQ) basis at Rs 2,969 crore for the third quarter ended December 2021 (Q3FY22). READ HERE.


HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, M&M, Titan, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank were the other notable losers.

Meanwhile, metal stocks were the leading gainers across sectors. The Nifty Metal index was up over 2 per cent, led by Tata Steel, Jindal Steel, HindCopper, Coal India and Vedanta, all up 3 per cent. Pharma stocks were the other gainers.

On the other hand, banks, auto, realty were trading lower. IT, too, was now muted. 

Among stocks, the shares of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) hit a new high of Rs 2,003.65, up 1.5 per cent on the BSE after the company announced that a consortium led by its arm, L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering, secured mega contracts (over Rs 7,000 crore) for two offshore packages from a prestigious overseas client. READ MORE. 

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Opening Bell

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices started on a slightly positive note on Thursday adding to a strong rally for a fifth session. The BSE Sensex was up 111 points at 61,266 and the NSE Nifty was higher by 28 points at 18,240. 

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were also in green and were up 0.2 per cent. 

On the Sensex, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, Sun Pharma, NTPC, Maruti, L&T, Reliance Industries were the top gainers. On the Nifty, Tata Steel, Coal India, JSW Steel, UPL, Cipla and Hindalco were the additonal gainers. 

Among IT stocks, Infosys and TCS, which delivered robust December quarter results in line with estimates, were trading over 1 per cent higher. Wipro, meanwhile, was down nearly 5 per cent on the BSE as the company missed revenue growth estimates. 

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal, Pharma and IT indices were the only gainers, up between 0.4-1 per cent. Banks, Auto, Financials and Realty indices were in the red zone. 

Further, Tata Motors was trading nearly 2 per cent lower on the BSE after the company shared a weak update for third quarter of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) sales, that are continued to be impacted by semiconducter shortages.

Retail sales of JLR for the quarter were 80,126 vehicles, down 13.6 per cent from the preceding September quarter and 37.6 per cent lower from a year ago.

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Pre-open session

LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices were seen positive in pre-open trades on Thursday. The BSE Sensex was up 425 points at 61,575, and the NSE Nifty was 45 points higher at 18,257.
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LIVE market updates: The benchmark indices are likely to start higher cheered by Q3 earnings of IT majors Infosys and TCS, which delivered strong performance.

Both TCS and Infosys beat the street estimates on growth, while Wipro slightly fell short of expectations. The clear message, however, from the performance of the top three companies was that the growth momentum is strong, in a traditionally soft quarter. READ MORE.

At 08:05 am, the SGX Nifty January futures stood at 18,351, indicating that the NSE Nifty 50 index may open around 120 points higher. 

Further, market action may also be dictated by India's retail inflation rate, which shot up to a five-month high in December to 5.59 per cent. On the other hand, industrial output growth decelerated to a nine-month low in November to 1.4 per cent, signaling that economic recovery remains weak. 

Among individual stocks, Aditya Birla Money, Mindtree, and Tata Metaliks may also be eyed as the companies announce their December quarter results.

Global cues

The US markets edged higher on Wednesday after retail inflation jumped to a 40-year high of 7 per cent in December but within the forecasts, thus suggesting that the Federal Reserve will not have to hike interest rates too aggressively. The Dow Jones, Nasdaq and the S&P 500 ended with marginal gains in the range of 0.1–0.3 per cent each.

Oil prices also extended gains on the back of a sharper-than-expected fall in the US inventories. The inventories fell to their lowest level since October 2018. Brent Crude rose 1.1 per cent to $84.67 a barrel, and WTI Crude jumped 1.8 per cent to $82.64 a barrel.

The major Asian markets seemed directionless barring Nikkei which was down 0.9 per cent. Others like Hang Seng and Taiwan were up 0.2 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively, while Shanghai Composite, Straits Times and Kospi were down 0.1 per cent each.