The Sensex and the Nifty reversed gains and turned negative in morning trade. Trading was volatile as geopolitical tensions concerned investors. At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 118.52 points or 0.35% at 33,486.70. The Nifty 50 index lost 35.70 points or 0.36% at 9,878.30.
Twenty Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, were killed and several others grievously injured in a violent physical skirmish with Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley region of eastern Ladakh on Monday. China blamed India for the violent LAC scuffle saying Indian troops crossed the border twice illegally and launched "provocative attacks".
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was trading almost flat while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.38%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On the BSE, 1062 shares rose and 902 shares fell. A total of 124 shares were unchanged.
Covid-19 Update:
India reported 1,55,227 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 11,903 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. Total coronavirus cases worldwide stood at 81,73,940 far with 4,43,685 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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Meanwhile, results of trials announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases, reduced death rates by around a third among the most severely ill Covid-19 patients admitted to hospital. The results suggest the drug should immediately become standard care in patients with severe cases of the pandemic disease, the researchers who led the trials have reportedly said.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Realty index rose 1.17% to 199.15 on bargain hunting. The index fell 4% in the past two sessions.
Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (up 4.64%), Unitech (up 4.21%), Parsvnath Developers (up 3.4%), Oberoi Realty (up 2.46%), DLF (up 1.64%), Godrej Properties (up 1.52%), Peninsula Land (up 1.05%), Sobha (up 0.9%), Omaxe (up 0.88%), Prestige Estates Projects (up 0.88%), Indiabulls Real Estate (up 0.87%) and Sunteck Realty (up 0.16%) advanced.
D B Realty (down 4%), Anant Raj (down 1.67%), Phoenix Mills (down 0.29%), Brigade Enterprises (down 0.25%) and Mahindra Lifespace Developers (down 0.07%) declined.
Q4 Results Today:
Cummins India (up 0.85%), Indraprastha Gas (up 0.30%), JK Lakshmi Cement (up 0.85%), Pidilite Industries (up 0.77%), REC (up 1.16%), Muthoot Finance (up 0.82%), Natco Pharma (up 1.11%), HEG (up 2.72%), Fortis Healthcare (up 0.20%), Prataap Snacks (down 0.95%), Welspun Corp (up 1.05%), Triveni Engineering & Industries (up 1.94%), Indostar Capital Finance (up 0.28%), Gulf Oil Lubricants India (down 2.33%), Navneet Education (up 1.02%), Wheels India (down 0.94%) and FDC (down 0.14%) are some of the companies that will announce their quarterly earnings today.
Earnings impact:
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) fell 1.1% to Rs 207.6 after standalone net profit dropped 99.1% to Rs 26.80 crore on 2.6% decline in net sales to Rs 65,868.51 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019.
Q4 profit was impacted mainly because of inventory losses of Rs 1,002.93 crore due to drastic fall in oil prices accompanied with reduced movement in inventory (net impact Rs 750.51 crore). The company also suffered losses amounting to Rs 873.50 crore on account of foreign currency transactions and translations.
Average Gross Refining Margin (GRM) during the year ended 31 March 2020 stood at $1.02 per barrel, declining 80% from $5.01 per barrel reported in the same period last year. The PSU OMC major recorded domestic sales volume of 9.25 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) in Q4 March 2020 as against 10.03 MMT in Q4 March 2019.
NMDC lost 2.24% to Rs 83 after consolidated net profit slumped 76.1% to Rs 347 crore on 12.5% fall in net sales to Rs 3,187.34 crore in Q4 March 2020 over Q4 March 2019. EBITDA margin stood at 48% in Q4 FY20 as compared to 63% in Q4 FY19.
The iron ore production dropped 11% to 94.74 lakh tonnes (LT) in Q4 FY20 as against 105.87 LT in Q4 FY19. The iron ore sales skid 15% to 86.19 LT in Q4 March 2020 as compared to 101.69 LT in Q4 March 2019.
The COVID-19 had a marginal effect on the operations of the company due to the lock down in the country in March 20. There has been a loss of around 10.01 LMT of production and 5.50 LMT of sale of iron ore during FY 2019-20 (in March 20). This has resulted in a loss in sale revenue around Rs 219 crore and PBT of Rs 120 crore.
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