Market Wrap Podcast, May 19: Here's all that happened in the markets today

After clocking a one-way rally over the past two days, domestic indices took a breather on Wednesday to digest news flow around record Covid-19 fatalities in the country along with global inflation fears.

India's daily virus cases rose marginally on Wednesday with over 267,000 fresh cases. With this, the new infection count has remained below the 300,000-mark for the third consecutive day.  However, the country reported a national record of 4,529 new deaths which, analysts say, remains a cause of concern. The country has been reporting over 4,000 deaths per day for over a week now.

Globally, stocks dipped and cryptocurrencies extended losses as uncertainties over inflation prompted investors to reduce exposure to riskier assets for now. Investors concerned about rising inflation will be keeping a close eye on the Federal Open Market Committee as it publishes the minutes from its April meeting later today.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 1.1 per cent in early deals while in Asia, Japan's Nikkei erased 1.3 per cent, China's CSI300 slipped 0.3 per cent, and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index tumbled 2 per cent.

With these dual concerns in mind, domestic investors booked profit, majorly in large-caps, on Dalal Street. After a gap-down start, the BSE barometer of 30-shares managed to eke out slim gains in the intra-day deals but tumbled nearly 450 points from the day's high to hit a low of 49,831. The index settled the day at 49,903 levels, down 291 points or 0.58 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index defended the crucial 15,000-mark and closed at 15,030 levels, down 78 points or 0.52 per cent. Earlier today, it hit a low of 15,008.

Coal India, Cipla, Sun Pharma, UPL, Nestle India, Indian Oil Corporation, Tech M, Axis Bank, and SBI Life were the top gainers of the day, up between 1 per cent and 4 per cent, while Tata Motors, HDFC, M&M, JSW Steel, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, and Kotak Bank were the top laggards, down up to 5 per cent.

In the broader market space, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended 0.53 per cent and 0.35 per cent higher, respectively.

Sectorally, the trend was largely mixed. The Nifty Financial Services index declined 1 per cent, followed by 0.9 per cent loss each in the Nifty Private Bank and Metal indices. On the upside, the Nifty Realty index zoomed over 2 per cent while the Nifty Pharma index added 1 per cent.

Buzzing stocks
 

Shares of Tata Motors dipped 6 per cent to Rs 312 on the BSE in the intra-day trade on Wednesday on account of profit booking even as the firm reported a strong operational performance for the quarter ended March 2021, led by its UK subsidiary JLR and its India business. It also narrowed consolidated loss, which was mainly on account of exceptional items. The stock eventually ended 5 per cent lower on the BSE.

Those of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank tumbled 8.1 per cent to hit an intra-day low of Rs 28 apiece on the BSE after the lender's asset quality worsensed in the March quarter. The stock, however, erased losses partially and closed 3 per cent lower on the BSE. Gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio rose from 0.97 per cent last year and 0.96 per cent (4.8 per cent as per pro-forma) in Q3FY21 to 7.1 per cent in the quarter ended March 2021. Net NPA ratio also rose to 3 per cent from 0.2 per cent last year and 0.05 per cent in Q3FY21.

Shares of Birla Corporation, on the other hand, traded higher for the eighth straight day and hit a record high of Rs 1,375 after it rallied 14 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade on strong set of numbers for Q4FY21. The share surpassed its previous high of Rs 1,290, hit on January 8, 2018.

Gland Pharma shares also hit a new high of Rs 3,512, up 14.6 per cent on the BSE, in the intra-day trade on Wednesday. In the last two days, the scrip has surged over 17 per cent after the company reported a healthy 34 per cent year-on-year rise in its consolidated net profit in the March 2021 quarter. With the past two days' rally, the stock has more than doubled and has appreciated 118 per cent against its IPO price of Rs 1,500 per share.

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation ended 1.5 per cent higher at Rs 107 on the BSE, after hitting an intra-day high of Rs 109, after it reported net profit of Rs 8,781 crore for Q4FY21. The OMC had posted a loss of Rs 5,185.32 crore in the same period a year back.