The domestic equity benchmarks ended near the day's low after a volatile session on Wednesday. IT, PSU banks, metals, and realty stocks ended with significant cuts while private banks and financials managed to close in the green.
As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 303.35 points or 0.56% to 53,749.26. The Nifty 50 index fell 99.35 points or 0.62% to 16,025.80.
The Nifty opened near the 16,200 level and hit the day's high at 16,223.35 in early trade. However, it failed to hold on to those gains and turned red in mid-morning trade. Continuous selling in the remainder of the session led the benchmark index lower and it closed a tad above the 16,000 mark today.
The broader indices tumbled. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 1.93% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 2.94%.
Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 720 shares rose and 2,607 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.
Investors awaited the release of minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, due later today. The minutes will give more clues on whether the monetary tightening would continue. Investors are worried about a potential U.S. recession caused by the monetary tightening.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty IT index declined 3.08% to 27,651.95. The index has declined 4.91% in two sessions.
Among the index components, Coforge (down 6.85%), Mphasis (down 5.65%), Mindtree (down 5.24%), L&T Technology Services (down 5%) and Larsen & Toubro Infotech (down 4.49%) declined.
Further, Tata Consultancy Services (down 3.63%), Tech Mahindra (down 3.04%), Wipro (down 2.87%) HCL Technologies (down 1.74%) and Infosys (down 1.60%) edged lower.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Grasim Industries slipped1.72%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 61.89% to Rs 2,777.15 crore on an 18.07% rise in net sales to Rs 28,811.39 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) slumped 5.40%. The company's consolidated net profit dropped to Rs 1033 crore in Q4 March 2022 from Rs 1321 crore in Q4 March 2021. Total income rose to Rs 4,418 crore from Rs 4,072 crore.
RITES fell 2.03%. The company's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 142.36 crore in Q4 March 2022 from Rs 141.55 crore in Q4 March 2021. Total income rose to Rs 787.52 crore from Rs 649.55 crore.
Metropolis Healthcare tumbled 6.67%. The company's consolidated net profit fell 35% to Rs 40.10 crore on 5% rise in total income to Rs 305.90 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.
Minda Industries jumped 6.21%. The company's board approved the issue of bonus shares to the shareholders of the company. The company will issue one bonus equity share for every one existing equity share held by the shareholders as on the 'record date'.
Minda Industries reported 2.9% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 144.37 crore on a 7.9% increase in net sales to Rs 2,415.08 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21.
Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries slumped 13.40%. The company recorded 7.2% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 55.60 crore on a 75.2% rise in net sales to Rs 856 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.
Strides Pharma Science rose 1.19%. The drug maker's consolidated net profit declined 36.6% to Rs 29.22 crore on a 4.7% fall in net sales to Rs 866.02 crore in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2021-22 as compared with the same period last year.
Bayer Cropscience rallied 4.13%. The company's standalone net profit surged 146.69% to Rs 152.70 crore on 31.29% rise in net sales to Rs 963.30 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021.
eClerx Services declined 4.54%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 20.3% YoY to Rs 118.76 crore in the quarter ended on 31 March 2022. Net sales during the period under review increased by 25.1% YoY to Rs 591.67 crore.
Aster DM Healthcare rose 3.65%. The company's consolidated net profit jumped 114.7% to Rs 226.27 crore on a 14% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 2,727.79 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21.
Global Markets:
Shares in Europe and Asia advanced across the board on Wednesday.
The flash purchasing managers' index (PMI) reading for the Euro Zone in May coming in at 55.8, slightly ahead of estimates, as business growth across the continent slowed but remained resilient. Still, global concerns about inflation and growth are prevalent and continue to weigh on sentiment.
On the data front, German GDP grew 0.2% in the first quarter of 2022, the Federal Statistics Office said on Wednesday, as Europe's largest economy narrowly avoided a recession on the back of strong construction and machinery investments.
Meanwhile, New Zealand's central bank has announced yet another 50 basis point rate hike. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced Wednesday its decision to hike its official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2%.
"A larger and earlier increase in the [official cash rate] reduces the risk of inflation becoming persistent, while also providing more policy flexibility ahead in light of the highly uncertain global economic environment," the RBNZ has reportedly said in a release announcing the rate hike.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq finished in the red on Tuesday as worries that aggressive moves to curb decades-high inflation might tip the US economy into recession dampened investors' risk appetite.
Investors continued to assess the global macroeconomic outlook as they await the minutes from the last U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, due on Wednesday, which could give clues on whether the monetary tightening would continue.
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