Market Wrap, Jan 22: Sensex slips over 200 points, Nifty holds 12,100 level

Weakness in the Indian equities continued for the third straight day amid volatility in the global markets. Additionally, mixed December quarter results, too, kept investment sentiment at bay. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended a volatile trading session at 41,115.38 level, down 208 points or 0.50 per cent on the back of cuts in bluechip companies like HDFC twins, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. 

ONGC, NTPC, and Maruti Suzuki were the top drags on the Sensex today while Nestle India, TCS, and Infosys were the top gainers.

On the other hand, Nifty50 settled just above the 12,100-mark at 12,107 level, down 63 points or 0.52 per cent. 

Sectorally, Nifty IT index settled in the green for the second straight day, up nearly a per cent on the NSE. However, on the downside, Nifty Metal and Private Bank indices closed 1.6 and 1 per cent lower, respectively.

The broader markets too settled with marginal cuts on Wednesday but outperformed the frontline indices for the second straight day. 

The S&P BSE mid-cap index erased 0.35 per cent to close at 15,529.91, while the S&P BSE small-cap index ended at 14,631.69 level, down 0.14 per cent.

Stocks that created a buzz in the market :

Shares of IndiaMART InterMESH zoomed 19 per cent to Rs 2,477.65 on the BSE today, also its fresh lifetime high, after the company's consolidated net profit more-than-doubled in December quarter to Rs 62 crore. The stock, eventually, settled 14.34 per cent higher at Rs 2,386.50.

That apart, shares of Bharti Airtel gained 2 per cent to quote at Rs 524 on the BSE after the Department of Telecom (DoT) approved raising foreign direct investment in the company to 100 per cent from 49 per cent allowed earlier. The telecom services provider's stock was trading at its highest level since October 15, 2007. At close, the stock pared its entire gain to settle 0.59 per cent higher at Rs 514.35.

On the downside, Shares of Tata Motors slipped up to 3.7 per cent on the BSE after news agency Reuters reported that its UK arm Jaguar Land Rover would cut jobs at its Halewood plant in UK. The stock settled 3.08 per cent lower.  

Here’s how global markets performed today:

Asian stock markets recovered ground on Wednesday as China’s response to a virus outbreak tempered some fears of a global pandemic, although Shanghai shares initially slipped amid worries about a hit to domestic demand and tourism. 

The MSCI index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.71 per cent, recouping almost half Tuesday’s drop. 

Japan’s Nikkei, South Korea’s Kospi index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng all rose by more than half a percentage point. Meanwhile, in Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 per cent.