Sensex ends 326 pts lower ahead of GDP data; RIL, Tata Steel slip 2%

CLOSING BELL: The Sensex and Nifty extended their losing streak into the eighth straight day on Tuesday; BSE benchmark has now shed 2,358 points, and NSE index 732 points in this period.

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Stock Market Highlights: Despite starting with marginal gains, the key benchmark indices exhibited a weak trend and ended lower for the eighth straight trading session on Tuesday amid sustained selling in index heavyweights such as – Reliance, Infosys, Tata Steel and ITC. Market participants were also nervous ahead of the December quarter GDP numbers to be announced later today.

The S&P BSE Sensex touched a high of 59,484 in early deals, but thereafter slipped into red and hit a low of 58,796 – down 688 points from the day’s high. The Sensex finally settled 326 points lower at 58,962, and has now declined 2,358 points in the last eight trading days.

From a high of 17,440, the NSE Nifty 50 plunged to a low of 17,255 in intra-day deals on Tuesday. The Nifty eventually ended 89 points lower at 17,304, and in the process also broke its 200-DMA (Daily Moving Average) which stands at 17,384 - a key technical indicator on the charts.

"Global investors' interest in the equity market is weakening due to the slowdown in the economy, led by high inflation and contractionary monetary policy. Inflows are being diverted to safe assets, and corporate earnings growth is dropping, affecting the performance of the stock market and demanding downgrade in valuation. The double whammy for India is that it is expensive compared to other EMs, resulting in underperformance among the global market." says a note from Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Also read: Softening cotton prices turning tides in favor of textile players: Analysts

Index heavyweights, Reliance Industries and Tata Steel down 2 per cent each were the top losers among the Sensex 30 pack. Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Tech Mahindra, NTPC and SBI were the other prominent losers.

On the positive front, Asian Paints surged 3 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, PowerGrid Corporation and UltraTech Cement also ended with notable gains.

Broader markets outperformed on Tuesday. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices finished with gains of around 0.5 per cent each. The overall breadth was neutral, with a near equal number of gainers and losers on the BSE.

Sectorally, the BSE Metal index shed 2.4 per cent. The Oil & Gas and Energy indices dropped 1.4 per cent each, and the Healthcare index weakened by a per cent. The BSE Realy index, however, gained 1.2 per cent.

Most Adani Group shares bounce back...

A majority of Adani Group shares ended with smart gains on Tuesday amid reports that the Group is looking to repay up to $790 million share-backed loans by March. Adani Enterprises soared over 14 per cent. Adani Ports, Adani Power, Adani Green, Adani Wilmar and NDTV were locked at the 5 per cent upper limit. However, Adani Transmission and Adani Total Gas hit the 5 per cent lower circuit. READ MORE

Among others, Vedanta recorded a four-month low as the stock tumbled 9 per cent on heavy volumes amid debt concerns. According to analysts, growth capex, along with moderation in operating profitability, and higher than expected dividend payout is expected to result in increased leverage this fiscal. READ MORE

4:07 PM

F&O analysis :: 'Put writers are confident of a market rebound'

The Nifty index, today, closed at its 9th straight day of loss, down from its recent high at 18,134. There was active call writing seen at 17,400, 17,500 and 17,600 of this week's expiry. Although traders are expecting this week's expiry of Nifty to be below the 17,500 level, the monthly expiry option sellers are expecting the March expiry to be above the 17,500.

The 17,500 PE of the monthly expiry continues to see high OI indicating that put writers are confident of a market rebound.

A prudent choice to play the index would be to take a bullish position once markets sustains above the 17,500 mark. This would also confirm a bullish pattern on the momentum indicators and can drive the index further up. Until that happens one should not initiate any bullish positions.

Views by: Rahul Ghose, Founder & CEO – Hedged, an algorithm-powered advisory platform

4:05 PM

Tech View :: 'Any pullback will unlikely result in trend reversal'

The Nifty opened on a flat note and witnessed continued selling pressure throughout the day to close the day on a negative note for the eight consecutive trading session. The daily lower Bollinger band is expanding and prices are trading along the lower band indicates that the fall is likely to continue.

On the hourly charts, the 20 hour moving average (17383) is acting as a stiff resistance and any bounce towards it is being sold into. The Nifty has closed below the 200 Day moving average (17384) which is also signaling weakness.

The hourly momentum indicator has a positive divergence along with a positive crossover which indicates that a bounce is possible The pullback if any is likely to be just a relief rally and unlikely to result in to trend reversal. Overall, the downtrend is still intact and any bounce should be used as an opportunity to create fresh short positions. On the downside we expect the Nifty to target levels of 17200 from short term perspective.

Views by: Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

4:02 PM

Comment :: What's hurting Indian equity markets?

Global investors' interest in the equity market is weakening due to the slowdown in the economy, led by high inflation and contractionary monetary policy. Inflows are being diverted to safe assets, and corporate earnings growth is dropping, affecting the performance of the stock market and demanding downgrade in valuation. The double whammy for India is that it is expensive compared to other EMs, resulting in underperformance among the global market.

Views by: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

4:00 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Advance-Decline ratio in 1:1

3:58 PM

Market Check :: Top losers on the BSE today

3:57 PM

Market Check :: Top gainers on the BSE today

3:56 PM

Uflex snaps 1-week losing streak as I-T dept concludes raid

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HPL Electric zooms 6% on smart meter order worth Rs 409.10 crore

3:48 PM

ZEE rallies nearly 7% as NSE decides to re-include the stock in F&O segment

Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) surged to Rs 198 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Tuesday’s intra-day trade after the exchange on Monday announced that it would include the stock back into the futures and options (F&O) segment.

3:46 PM

Indiabulls Real Estate falls over 5% post MD's resignation

Shares of Indiabulls Real Estate slipped 7 per cent to Rs 56.70 in Tuesday's intra-day trade on the BSE after the company announced resignation of Mehul Johnson as a Managing Director (MD) & Key Managerial Personnel of the company with effect from February 27.

3:44 PM

Vedanta ends off lows as Co brushes off debt repayment concerns

>> As per the company's spokesperson, the company is in a comfortable position to meet debt maturing in April and in the first quarter of the next financial year, and that there is no question of a default.