The benchmark indices ended with steep losses on Friday. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red. The Nifty ended below the 17,200 level, reversing from the day's high of 17,315.30 in afternoon trade. The investor sentiment was dented after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted a two or more half percentage-point interest-rate increases in the upcoming policy meeting.
As per provisional closing basis, the barometer index, S&P BSE Sensex slumped 714.53 points or 1.23% at 57,197.15. The Nifty 50 index shed 220.65 points or 1.27% at 17,171.95.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index slipped 0.71%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.38%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On the BSE, 1,459 shares rose while 1,950 shares fell. A total of 122 shares were unchanged.
COVID-19 Update:
India recorded 2,451 new COVID-19 cases and 54 deaths on Friday, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The active cases increased to 14,241 while the recovery rate remained unchanged at 98.75%.
Results Today:
Aditya Birla Money (up 1.28%), Tata Metaliks (up 0.36%), Tejas Networks (up 0.56%) and Wendt (India) (up 4.79%) will release quarterly earnings on 22 April 2022. Meanwhile, ICICI Bank (down 2%) will announce its quarterly earnings on 23 April 2022.
Politics:
The High Court of Jharkhand on Friday granted bail to RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav in a case of fraudulent withdrawal of money from the Doranda treasury of Jharkhand. In February, a special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Court in Ranchi convicted Yadav in connection with the fraudulent withdrawal of over Rs 139 crore from the Doranda treasury in the late 1990s in undivided Bihar. He was sentenced to five years in prison and a fine of Rs 60 lakh.
The fodder scam, popularly known as "chaara ghotala", was a corruption scandal that involved the embezzlement of money from the government treasury of Bihar in the pretext of supplying fodder.
The Rs 950 crore fodder scam occurred between 1991 and 1996, when Yadav was the Chief Minister of Bihar. He was previously convicted in four other fodder scam cases for illegal withdrawals of Rs 37.7 crore and Rs 33.13 crore from the Chaibasa treasury, Rs 89.27 crore from the Deoghar treasury, and Rs 3.76 crore from the Dumka treasury.
Lalu Prasad, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison and slapped with a total penalty of Rs 60 lakh, has now secured bail in all of the five fodder scam cases in which he was convicted. He earlier secured bail in the Chaibasa Treasury scam cases in October 2020, and in the Deoghar Treasury scam case in February 2020. He was granted bail in the Dumka Treasury case in April 2021.
Crypto Market:
Among the popular crypto currencies, Tether (USDT) (up 0.53%) advanced.
However, Bitcoin (BTC) (down 2.88%), Ethereum (ETH) (down 2.56%), Binance Coin (BNB) (down 2.23%) and Doge Coin (Doge) (down 1.72%) declined.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Metal index fell 1.97% to 6,440.65. The index rose 0.22% in the past trading session.
Among the components of the Nifty Metal index, Hindalco Industries (down 4.66%), Hindustan Copper (down 3.86%), National Aluminium Company (NALCO) (down 3.48%), Vedanta (down 2.05%) and Tata Steel (down 1.86%) were the top losers.
Among the other losers were Hindustan Zinc (down 1.82%), NMDC (down 1.71%), Steel Authority of India (SAIL) (down 1.55%), JSW Steel (down 1.46%) and Welspun Corp (down 1.31%).
On the other hand, Ratnamani Metals & Tubes (up 2.01%) and APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.54%) edged higher.
Stocks in Spotlight:
HCL Technologies rose 0.20%. The IT company reported 4.4% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,593 crore and 1.2% increase in revenue to Rs 22,597 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q3 FY22. Compared with Q4 last year, adjusted net profit rose 23.9% while topline rose 15.1% in the last quarter. The company's adjusted net income rose 4.3% to Rs 13,499 crore on 13.6% increase in revenue to Rs 85,651 crore in the year ended March 2022 over the year ended March 2021. For comparison purposes, net income of Q4 FY21 and full year FY21 excludes the impact of onetime milestone bonus paid to employees (US$ 78.8 million, Rs 575 crore net of tax) and the DTL on Goodwill impact in the tax expense ($165.1 million, Rs 1,222 crore) in Q4 FY21. HCL expects revenue to grow at Rs 22,597 crore, up 1.2% QoQ & up 15.1% YoY. Net Income is expected at Rs 3,593 crore, up 4.4% QoQ & up 23.9% YoY.
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company dropped 5.91%. The company's net profit for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 declined 9.6% to Rs 312.51 crore. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 345.68 crore in the same period of the previous fiscal. Total income increased by 32.3% YoY to Rs 4,801.32 crore in Q4 FY22. Gross Direct Premium Income (GDPI) of the company stood at Rs 4,666 crore in Q4 FY22 as against Rs 3,478 crore in Q4 FY21, up 34.2% YoY. Excluding crop segment, GDPI of the company was at Rs 4,655 crore in Q4 FY22 as compared with Rs 3,478 crore in Q4 FY21, up 33.8% YoY. Capital gains were at Rs 136 crore in Q4 FY22 as against Rs 66 crore in Q4 FY2021. The combined ratio stood at 103.2% in Q4 FY22 as against 101.8% in Q4 FY21. Profit before tax (PBT) in Q4 FY22 stood at Rs 410 crore, down by 8.8% from Rs 450 crore in Q4 FY21. The general insurer reported 13.7% fall in net profit to Rs 1,271.01 crore despite 32.8% rise in total income to Rs 16,836.02 crore in FY22 over FY21.
L&T Technology Services gained 0.27%. The pure-play engineering services company reported 5.3% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 262 crore on 4.1% increase in revenue to Rs 1756.10 crore in Q4 March 2022 over Q3 FY22. EBITDA rose 3.5% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 29.8% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 380.40 crore in Q4 FY22. EBITDA margin was at 21.7% as in Q4 FY22 as against 21.8% in Q3 FY22 and 20.3% in Q4 FY21. L&T Technology Services (LTTS)'s USD revenue stood at $232 million for the quarter, a growth of 3.1% QoQ and 17.5% YoY. In constant currency, it reported a growth of 3.6% QoQ and 19.4% YoY.
CRISIL added 3.47%. The credit rating agency recorded 45.6% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 121.6 crore in Q1 March 2022 from Rs 83.5 crore in Q1 March 2021. Consolidated income from operations for the quarter ended 31 March 2022 increased by 20.1% to Rs 594.9 crore, compared with Rs 495.2 crore reported in the quarter ended 31 March 2021. CRISIL said that the first quarter of 2022 was marked by the highly transmissible third COVID-19 wave, leading to temporary disruption of economic activities. The inflationary trends, rising interest rates in the developed economies, and geopolitical situation has introduced additional volatility and impacted investor appetite in the global markets. In India, corporate bond issuances declined 15% by value and 22% by quantum in Q1 2022 year-on-year (YoY). Bank credit growth to the large corporate segment was muted. Despite this challenging scenario, the Rating segment revenue grew by 9.7% YoY to Rs 163.32 crore in Q1 2022.
Tata Communications declined 3.62%. The firm reported a 22% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 365 crore on a 4.7% increase in net sales to Rs 4,263 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q4 FY21. On a sequential basis, net profit declined 7.6% while net sales rose nearly 2% in Q4 FY22 over Q3 FY22. Profit before tax jumped by nearly 26% quarter on quarter and 57.9% year on year to Rs 609.48 crore in Q4 FY22. For the quarter ended March 2022, EBITDA margin came in at 24.5% as compared to 25.9% margin posted in the previous quarter.
Cyient soared 10.50%. The IT firm's consolidated net profit rose 17% to Rs 154.20 crore while revenue declined 0.19% to Rs 1,181.20 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q3 FY22. Compared with Q4 last year, adjusted net profit rose 49.56% while topline rose 8.06% in the last quarter. It reported highest ever group EBIT of Rs 170.8 crore, with a margin of 14.5%. In Dollar terms, the group revenue stood at $156.7 million, growth of 4.6% YoY and de-growth of 0.8% QoQ (0.4% in CC). For the financial year 2021-22, the company posted a net profit of Rs 522.4 crore, a growth of 40.6%. It reported a revenue of Rs 4,534.4 crore in the year, a growth of 9.7%. It reported highest ever group EBIT at Rs 629.7 crore, an increase of 51.3% YoY. The group's order intake for FY22 stood at Rs 5,454.3 crore, a YoY growth of 8%.
Rallis India tumbled 9.78%. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 14.19 crore in Q4 FY22 as against a net profit of Rs 8.12 crore posted in Q4 FY21. Net sales grew by 7.7% to Rs 507.54 crore in Q4 FY22 from Rs 471.26 crore posted in Q4 FY21. On a sequential basis, net sales declined 19.1% to Rs 507.54 crore in Q4 FY22 over Q3 FY22. Rallis India posted a pre-tax loss of Rs 16.24 crore in Q4 FY22 as against a profit before tax of Rs 8.12 crore recorded in Q4 FY21. The Tata Group company reported an 25.9% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 164.20 crore in financial year ended 2022 over financial year ended 2021. Gross revenue rose 7.2% to Rs 2,603.93 crore in FY22 over FY21.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) advanced 2.76%. The company announced the acquisition of Ocean Sparkle, India's largest third-party marine services provider. The company through its subsidiary, The Adani Harbour Services (TAHSL), has entered into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of 100% stake in Ocean Sparkle (OSL). Ocean Sparkle is engaged in the business of port operations and marine services. Key activities carried by OSL include towage, pilotage, and dredging services. It has an asset base of 94 owned vessels and 13 third-party-owned vessels. The company's consolidated revenue for FY 2020-21 was Rs 622.10 crore.
Global Markets:
The Dow Jones Futures was down 122 points, indicating a negative start to the U.S. market.
European markets fell across the board while most Asian stocks edged lower on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said a half-percentage point rate hike is on the table for next month.
Earlier on Thursday, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell commented on the possibility of a larger-than-usual rate hike next month, spooking markets. Speaking during an International Monetary Fund panel, Powell reportedly said that taming inflation is "absolutely essential.
China's central bank will maintain prudent monetary policy and increase support for the economy, Governor Yi Gang has reportedly said on Friday as part of the annual Boao Forum for Asia. Yi reportedly said the priority for China's monetary policy is ensuring stable prices, especially in food and energy.
Yi's comments come as investors have been watching for signs of policy support from Chinese authorities. China's markets have struggled for gains most of this week as investors worry about a range of concerns from the country's economic outlook to an ongoing Covid outbreak on the mainland.
Wall Street reversed course and posted losses on Thursday while oil gained as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell suggested the US central bank would move aggressively to curb inflation.
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