The domestic benchmark indices came off day's low during early afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered a tad above 16,400 level. The sectoral indices on the NSE were trading in red.
At 12:20 IST, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex was down 926.8 points or 1.66% to 54,775.43. The Nifty 50 index lost 276.65 points or 1.66% to 16,406.
Investor sentiment were dented on concerns that the US Federal Reserve's 50 basis points rate hike would not be enough to control the multi-year high inflation. Further, raising of the inflation targets for 2022 from 5.75% to 10% by the Bank of England spooked markets globally. The British Central Bank also raised interest rates to their 13-year high, to tackle inflation.
The broader market tumbled. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.06% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 2.36%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 549 shares rose while 2,668 shares fell. A total of 101 shares were unchanged.
Derivatives:
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of market's expectation of volatility over the near term, rose 5.21% to 21.3500. The Nifty 26 May 2022 futures were trading at 16,412, at a premium of 6 points as compared with the spot at 16,406.
The Nifty option chain for 26 May 2022 expiry showed maximum Call OI of 28.4 lakh contracts at the 17,000 strike price. Maximum Put OI of 40.7 lakh contracts was seen at 16,000 strike price.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal fell 3.03% to 6,009.15. The index had rose 0.62% in the previous trading session.
Among the components of the Nifty Metal index, Vedanta (down 11.09%), Welspun Corp (down 5.48%), Jindal Stainless (Hisar) (down 4.76%), Steel Authority of India (down 4.68%) and APL Apollo Tubes (down 4.61%) were the top losers.
Among the other losers were Jindal Steel & Power (down 4.44%), Hindalco Industries (down 4.25%), Hindustan Copper (down 3.77%), JSW Steel (down 3.39%) and NMDC (down 3.22%).
Stocks in Spotlight:
Voltas skid 5.95%. The company's consolidated net profit declined 23.15% to Rs 182.70 crore on 0.22% rise in net sales to Rs 2633.72 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q4 March 2021. On a consolidated basis, profit before tax (PBT) fell 23% year-on-year to Rs 247.40 crore in Q4 March 2022. The unitary cooling products segment reported higher revenue of Rs 1818 crore as compared to Rs 1655 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. Voltas continues to be the market leader in ACs with a YTD market share of 25.4% YTD January 2022.
Indus Towers fell 0.37%. The company's net profit jumped 34.1% to Rs 1,828.50 crore on 9.6% increase in net sales to Rs 7,116.30 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. Consolidated profit before tax surged 35.4% to Rs 2,431.40 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 1,795.70 crore posted in Q4 FY21. Meanwhile, consolidated EBITDA was at Rs 4,070 crore, up 19% YoY with an operating margin of 57.2%. The total tower base grew 3.47% to 1,85,447 as on 31 March 2022 as compared to 1,79,225 as on 31 March 2021. The closing sharing factor was at 1.81 during the quarter as against 1.80 during the corresponding quarter, last year. The operating free cash flow stood at Rs 2,734 crore up 83% YoY in quarter ended March 2022. The return on equity (pre-tax) increased to 44.3% in Q4 FY22 as against 39.6% in Q4 FY21 on YoY basis [return on equity (post tax) increased to 33.5% as against 29.6% Yo-Y basis. The return on capital employed increased to 25.7% in Q4 FY22 as against 22.1%, during the period under review.
Solar Industries India declined 0.43%. Solar Industries India said that the company and its subsidiary have received orders worth Rs 1,563 crore from Singareni Collieries Company. The order is for supply of SME explosives, LDC explosives and accessories for blasting of OB, to be delivered over a period of two years.
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