Sensex gives up 50K, ends 167 pts down; Nifty at 14,590; PSBs, metals hit

Stock market updates: A day that began with a historic feat of touching the 50,000-mark milestone on the S&P BSE Sensex, turned into a nightmare for investors as a massive bloodbath awashed investor wealth. Sentiment took a hit after fire broke out at the Serum Institute of India, the manufacturer of Covidshield Vaccine.

The benchmark Sensex tumbled 785 points from record high to hit an intra-day low of 49,399. However, the sell-off was quickly bought into and the BSE barometer of 30 shares ended at 49,625 levels, down 167 points or 0.34 per cent.

ONGC, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, and IndusInd Bank were the top laggards on the index, down between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. Weightage-wise, profit-booking in HDFC twins, Airtel, TCS, ITC, and SBI dragged the index lower.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index settled at 14,590 levels, down 54 points or 0.37 per cent.

All the key sectoral indices ended the day in a sea of red. Nifty PSU Bank index declined 3 per cent, followed by cuts in Nifty Realty index (down 2.3 per cent) and Nifty Metal index (down 2 per cent).

50,000 MILESTONE

Earlier in the day, liquidity expansion by the central bank supported by FII inflows, a V-shaped economic recovery aided by the discovery of Covid-19 vaccine, and swearing-in of Joe Biden as the new president of the United States propelled the S&P BSE Sensex above the 50,000-mark for the first time and towards a record peak of 50,184. The Nifty50, too, hit a record peak of 14,753 levels.

Going-ahead, analysts expect leaner balance sheet of India corporates along with government measures for growth to lift the economic growth ahead. The same is likely to resonate in capital markets, thereby keeping the markets buoyant in the long term. READ MORE
 

Global markets

World stocks racked up record highs on Thursday and the dollar fell, as investors bet major stimulus from new U.S. President Joe Biden and unswerving global central bank support would cushion the coronavirus’s economic damage.

Europe's traders hoisted the FTSE, DAX and CAC 40 0.2 per cent to 0.4 per cent higher and pushed up the euro again as they also waited for the European Central Bank's first policy meeting of the year.

With Wall Street and Asian stocks both reaching new highs overnight, MSCI's global index covering nearly 50 countries added 0.3 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:31 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking.

Fundamental

 

Following the inaugural speech of U.S. President Joe Biden yesterday and in anticipation of improved global trade, domestic equity indices opened higher today and touched the psychologically significant level of 50,000. However profit booking in the afternoon session pulled the markets down, the benchmark index ended the day around 0.35% down. All sectors ended with losses today with PSU Bank, Realty and Metal stocks being the top laggards. Broader markets underperformed in today’s session, the Midcap and Smallcap indices ended the day 1.2% and 0.6% down. For stock specific performance, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance and Reliance Industries were the top gainers in the index, while ONGC, Tata Steel and Coal India were the top losers. Going ahead investors will keep an eye on major policy announcements of Joe Biden and watch the earnings release of index heavyweights like Reliance Industries tomorrow.

 

Technical

 

After a positive opening, Nifty set a new benchmark at 14753.55 levels but corrected from the higher levels and closed on a negative note with marginal loss of 13 points. Bank Nifty slipped more than 1% to close 32186.90 levels. Major fall has been noticed in Nifty Metal, PSE, IT, & FMCG sectors, Nifty Midcap & Smallcap indices, which also showed some profit booking and closed into negative territory. On the stock front, TATAMOTORS, BAJFINANCE, RELIANCE has contributed some gain for the day while TATASTEEL, GAIL, COAL INDIA witnessed further correction. Technically, the benchmark index has been trading in a Higher Top Higher Bottom formation since the last days. It shows a continuation of the trend. Moreover, Nifty has been trading above its 21 Days Moving Average which supports the bullish trend for the near term. Now, the Nifty has resistance at 14750 while downside support comes at 14500.

4:21 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rahul Sharma, Head – Technical & Derivatives Research, JM Financial Services

What a day for Sensex to hit 50k.. 21st Day of the 21st Year, of the 21st Century! However, we believe this is more of a mental milestone but an important one. Since booking the profit is better than looking at the profit, we advise to take some profits around Nifty 14,800/15,000 levels & keep the portfolio’s hedged with Nifty Put Options of February Expiry. As a Budget Strategy for traders, it's best to buy the expectation & sell the realization. Maintain trailing stop loss of 14,440 for positional longs in Nifty

4:11 PM

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

Indian equity benchmark indices failed to hold on to higher intraday levels and ended with losses on January 21 led by weekly F&O expiry and nervousness spreading ahead of Union Budget due on Feb 01. Sensex hit an all-time high of 50,184.01 in intraday trade. At close, the Nifty was at 14,590.35, down 54 points or 0.37 percent.

 

Volumes on the NSE were up again after a few days of soft volumes. Among sectors, Nifty PSU Bank, Realty, Metal, Media, Pharma, Bank fell the most. Broader markets too fell more than the Nifty with the midcap index falling 1.2% while the smallcap index declined 0.6%.

 

Nifty has shown signs of profit taking after such a rise. Technically it has formed a Dark Cloud Cover on daily charts, showing possibility of follow on selling.  The steepness of selling in the afternoon suggests that the Nifty could keep running into resistance/profit taking over the next few sessions.

 

 

4:00 PM

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

The market manages to hold above 14600 (Nifty 50 Index level). Sustaining above 14600 is the key and should attract further liquidity into the market to propel the ongoing long-term positive trend. The market should gain momentum and extend the rally till 14800/14930. We have observed volatility to expand in today’s trading session, yet market breadth is set to stay positive, strengthening the view of a short-term bullish outlook

 

3:59 PM

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

Faster economic recovery even during a pandemic, the rising expectation on Joe Biden’s stimulus package and union budget has taken the market to new highs. The Indian market was boosted by sustained foreign inflows and a better start to Q3 corporate earnings. The market is expected to maintain its momentum and remain expensive given ample liquidity & high earnings growth. Going ahead domestic market will keep a track on high budget expectations and global market, which will focus on the policies to be adopted by the new president of the U.S

3:49 PM

PSU Bank index declines the most

3:48 PM

ALERT :: India VIX ends around 3% higher

>> The index settled at 23 levels

3:47 PM

Market stats :: BSE m-cap slips to Rs 196.6 trillion-mark after hitting record high of Rs 199 trillion

3:44 PM

Sectoral trends on NSE at Close

3:43 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

3:37 PM

CLOSING BELL

The benchmark Sensex tumbled 785 points from record high to hit an intra-day low of 49,399. However, the sell-off was quickly bought into and the BSE barometer of 30 shares ended at 49,625 levels, down 167 points or 0.34 per cent.

 

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index settled at 14,590 levels, down 54 points or 0.37 per cent.

3:24 PM

With Sensex at 50,000, which sectors & stocks are still investment worthy?

A nearly two-fold jump in the BSE barometer Sensex came on the back of liquidity gush, FII inflows and economic recovery. Covid-19 vaccine development, Q3 earnings and a new president in the United States further boosted the market bulls to achieve this historic feat. LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE

3:11 PM

NEWS FLASH :: Fire breaks out at Terminal 1 gate of Serum Institute, Pune

- Fire breaks out at under construction facility at Manjari plant, SII
- Fire won't impact Covishield supply

(Source: TV News)

2:56 PM

Bajaj Auto Q3 consolidated PAT grows 30% YoY to Rs 1,716 crore

Two-wheeler major Bajaj Auto, on Thursday, reported consolidated net profit of Rs 1,716.26 crore for the October-December quarter of FY21 (Q3FY21), up 29.7 per cent, from a profit of Rs 1,322.4 crore in the year-ago period, primarily on the back of highest-ever exports. Sequentially, however, the profit surged 43.74 per cent from Rs 1,193.97 crore posted in the September quarter of FY21. The company's revenue grew 16.62 per cent YoY to Rs 8,909.88 crore, as against Rs 7,639.66 crore in Q3FY20. READ MORE

2:51 PM

Kajaria Ceramics gains 7%, hits record high on strong Q3 operating margin

Shares of Kajaria Ceramics hit a record high of Rs 839, up 7 per cent, on the BSE on Thursday after the company said operating margins have touched a new high of 21.68 per cent in the October-December quarter (Q3FY21). The company said its sales volumes have improved by 11 per cent while sales have increased by 13 per cent over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. READ MORE