Key barometers were trading with small losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty fell below 15,100 mark. Weakness in metals, banks and auto stocks weighed on the indices.
At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, dropped 109.77 points or 0.22% at 50,083.56. The Nifty 50 index lost 24.35 points or 0.16% at 15,083.75.
HDFC Bank (down 1.02%), ICICI Bank (down 0.92%) and Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) (down 0.67%) were major drags.
The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.61%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.66%.
Buyers outpaced sellers. On the BSE, 1,794 shares rose and 1,126 shares fell. A total of 180 shares were unchanged.
The undertone of the market was upbeat amid hopes of reopening of economic activity soon as fresh daily COVID-19 cases declined. Encouraging quarterly results also boosted sentiment.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 618.49 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 449.52 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 May 2021, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 16,42,44,659 with 34,04,925 deaths. India reported 32,26,719 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,83,248 deaths while 2,19,86,363 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
India reported a total of 2,67,334 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. It marks the third consecutive day when cases have come below the 3-lakh mark. The country recorded its highest one-day death toll of 4,529 deaths.
Gainers & Losers:
Cipla (up 1.71%), Nestle India (up 1.54%), UPL (up 1.48%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (up 1.38%) and Shree Cement (up 1.28%) were major gainers in Nifty 50 index.
ONGC (down 1.64%), Bajaj Finserv (down 1.55%) Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (down 1.34%) and Tata Steel (down 1.20%) were major losers in Nifty 50 index.
Nifty Result Today:
Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) (up 0.28%) will announce its quarterly result today.
Earnings Impact:
Tata Motors slumped 4.63%. On a consolidated basis, the auto major reported net loss of Rs 7,605.40 crore in Q4 FY21 lower than net loss of Rs 9,894.25 crore in Q4 FY20. Total revenue from operations during the quarter increased 41.8% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 88,627.90 crore in Q4 FY21. During the period ended March 2020, an exceptional charge of Rs 14,994.30 crore was recognized under the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)'s reimagine strategy. It comprised of asset write downs of Rs 9,606.11 crore in relation to models cancelled and restructuring costs of Rs 5,388.19 crore.
JLR reported pre-tax profits of 534 million pounds in Q4 FY21. Fourth quarter revenue increased 20.5% Y-o-Y to 6.5 billion pounds, led by China and the new Defender. JLR said that coronavirus cases are still high in many markets while supply chain issues, in particular for semi-conductors, have become more difficult to mitigate and are now impacting production plans for Q1. The company is working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimise the effect on customers.
Tata Motors standalone (including joint operations) revenue for the quarter increased 104% to Rs 20,046 crore. The company recorded a pre-tax profit before exceptional Rs 145 crore as against pre-tax loss of Rs 2,215 crore in Q4 FY20. The company's India operations continued its strong sequential recovery in the quarter with CV revenues recovering to pre-pandemic levels and PV revenues reaching multi-year highs.
With respect to outlook, the company said that while demand remains strong, the supply situation over the next few months is likely to be adversely impacted by disruptions from COVID-19 lockdowns in India and semi-conductor shortages worldwide. The company expects Q1 FY22 to be relatively weak due to this as well as rising commodity inflation and expect to improve gradually from the second quarter.
Minda Corporation rallied 3.12% after the company's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 12.92 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with net loss of Rs 299.78 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales surged 48% to Rs 794.09 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 536.37 crore in Q4 FY20. EBITDA soared 128.20% to Rs 89 crore in Q4 March 2021 as against Rs 39 crore in Q4 March 2020. EBITDA margin improved to 11.2% in Q4 FY21 as compared to 7.3% in Q4 FY20.
Brigade Enterprises spurted 4.99% after the realty company reported a sharp surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 39.57 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 2.68 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales grew 24.4% year on year to Rs 791.24 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20. The real estate company posted a pre-tax profit of Rs 26.55 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 13.79 crore in Q4 FY20. EBITDA surged 52% to Rs 218.30 crore in Q4 FY21 from Rs 143.50 crore in Q4 FY20. EBITDA/revenue stood at 27% in Q4 FY21 from 22% in Q4 FY20. The company reported the highest ever pre-sales of 1.66 million square feet valued at Rs 1,018 crore during Q4 FY21.
Global Markets:
US Dow Jones index futures were down 152 points, indicating a weak opening in US stock today. European shares fell across the board while Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday, 19 May 2021. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed for holidays.
China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions, and warned investors against speculative crypto trading.
U.S. stock indexes wiped out earlier gains and closed at their session lows on Tuesday as Big Tech stocks reversed lower, while data showing housing starts dropped sharply last month also weighed on sentiment.
Housing starts tumbled 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.569 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.
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