Market wrap: Sensex slumps 765 points, Nifty ends below 17,200 level

Top headlines

• Sensex slumps 765 points, Nifty ends below 17,200

• Star Health cuts IPO size after tepid subscription

• Services PMI moderates in Nov as price pressures intensify

• Tega Industries closes IPO with over 200 times subscription

The benchmark indices ended lower on Friday as domestic investors booked profit after two days of relentless buying, and ahead of the weekend.

Besides, an increase in the number of suspected Omicron-based Covid-19 cases in the country also worried investors.

After two confirmed cases in Karnataka, a third one was reported in Tamil Nadu. Further, Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Pune have also sent samples of Covid positive patients who have returned from ‘at-risk’ countries for genome sequencing.

That apart, the World Health Organization on Friday warned Asia-Pacific countries to boost healthcare capacity and fully vaccinate their people to prepare for a surge in Covid-19 cases. Despite travel curbs, the Omicron variant is spreading rapidly with India, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Sri Lanka being the latest Asian countries to report the cases this week.

Against this backdrop, the BSE Sensex ended 765 points, or 1.3 per cent, lower at 57,696 today. In intra-day trade, the index fluctuated over 1,100 points.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 ended below the 17,200 mark at 17,198, down 205 points or 1.2 per cent.

Power Grid (down 4 per cent) was the worst-hit large-cap on the 50-share index, followed by Reliance Industries, Kotak Bank, HDFC Life, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, and Bharti Airtel.

Stocks that capped the downside were UPL, BPCL, Indian Oil, ONGC, and L&T. These shares were up in the range of 1-2.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, in the broader market, the BSE MidCap index ended flat with a negative bias but the BSE SmallCap index added 0.3 per cent.

Among individual stocks, the shares of Vodafone Idea hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 14.73 after they rallied 15 per cent on the BSE in Friday’s intra-day trade. The stock has surged 32 per cent this week and crossed its 52-week high level of Rs 13.80. In the process, it has hit its highest level since June 2019.

That apart, shares of Neogen Chemicals also surged 19 per cent to Rs 1,800 on the BSE in intra-day trade, gaining as much as 30 per cent in the past two trading days. Neogen’s business has some seasonal drivers due to which the company tends to deliver stronger performance in the second half of the financial year (October to March), according to the company. The shares ended 16.5 per cent higher on the BSE today.

Meanwhile, in the primary market, Tega Industries’ initial public offering was subscribed 217 times as at 3:45 PM on the final day of the issue. The portion reserved for Non-Institutional Investors was subscribed 657 times, while that of QIB investors was subscribed 215 times.

The IPO of Anand Rathi Wealth, on the other hand, has been subscribed nearly 3 times so far on Day 2 of the issue.

In a separate development, Star Health is lowering the offer for sale portion of its IPO after receiving a tepid response in its subscription period, which ended yesterday, Reuters reported.

The IPO of the country's largest private health insurance was subscribed just 79 per cent.

Let’s look at the global markets:

• Asian shares reversed losses and ended higher on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei closed 1 per cent higher, while South Korea’s Kospi and Australia’s ASX200 ended up to 0.8 per cent higher.

• In Europe, the UK’s FTSE100 was down 0.06 per cent in early deals, France’s CAC40 was up 0.08 per cent, and Germany’s DAX gained 0.09 per cent.