Indices plunge on profit selling, Nifty holds 24,000 mark

The domestic equity indices witnessed a sharp decline on Friday, ending a two-day winning streak. After a flat opening, the Nifty traded within a narrow range before closing near its intraday low at 24,005 points. The sell-off was primarily driven by weakness in IT, pharma, and banking stocks. Investors displayed caution ahead of the upcoming Q3 earnings season, which is set to begin next week. However, sectors such as media, oil & gas, and consumer durables bucked the trend and witnessed strong demand.

The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 720.60 points or 0.90% to 79,223.11. The Nifty 50 index slipped 183.90 points or 0.76% to 24,004.75.

 

HDFC Bank (down 2.46%), TCS (down 2.03%) and ICICI Bank (down 1.97%) were major drags.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.33% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index shed 0.02%.

The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 2117 shares rose and 1869 shares fell. A total of 117 shares were unchanged.

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 1.43% to 13.54.

Numbers to Track:

The yield on India's 10-year benchmark federal paper shed 0.03% to 6.897 as compared with the previous close of 6.899.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 85.7900, compared with its close of 85.7500 during the previous trading session. The Indian rupee hit a fresh record low against the US dollar at 85.8075.

MCX Gold futures for the 5 February 2025 settlement shed 0.05% to Rs 77,678.

The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, was down 0.09% to 109.15.

The United States 10-year bond yield slipped 0.48% to 4.553.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2025 settlement lost 36 cents, or 0.47% to $75.57 a barrel.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones index futures were up 60 points, signaling a positive opening for U.S. stocks today.

European shares declined on Friday as investors weighed regional and global political uncertainty that could affect markets and the economy, including political instability in France, upcoming elections in Germany and potential tariffs under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

On the data front, Turkeys consumer price index fell to 44.38% on an annual basis in December, down from 47.09% in November.

Most Asian stocks ended higher on Friday, defying the gloomy sentiment on Wall Street, where US stocks extended their losing streak to a fifth consecutive day. Equity trading in Japan was closed for a holiday. Chinese stocks are under scrutiny after their worst start to the year since 2016.

US stocks declined on Thursday, erasing early gains following a series of security incidents across the United States in recent days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 156 points, or 0.4%, while the S&P 500 index lost 10 points, or 0.2%, and the NASDAQ Composite dipped by 30 points, or 0.2%.

Investors are closely monitoring the US House Speaker vote on Friday to determine if Mike Johnson will retain his position. Internal disagreements within the Republican Party regarding his reelection could potentially hinder the agenda of the President-elect.

Tesla shares plummeted over 6% after the EV manufacturer reported a record number of vehicle deliveries in the fourth quarter, as announced on Thursday. However, these deliveries fell short of consensus expectations.

Apple is offering discounts on its latest iPhone models in China, an unusual move that signifies escalating competition from domestic rivals in the world's largest smartphone market. As a result, the company's shares declined by nearly 3% on Thursday.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Hindustan Zinc rallied 3.57% after its mined metal production stood at 265,000 tonnes in Q3 FY25, up 3% QoQ driven by higher mined metal grades and increase in production at Agucha and Zawar mines.

Avenue Supermarts (DMart) spurted 11.21% after the company reported good Q3 business update. The company's standalone revenue from operations for the quarter ended (QE) 31 December 2024 stood at Rs 15,565.23 crore, up 17.50% year-on-year.

Wockhardt rallied 5.04% after the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has approved Miqnaf (nafithromycin) as a new treatment for the community-acquired bacterial Pneumonia (CABP) in adults.

Hero MotoCorp declined 1.57% after the company said that its total sales tumbled 17.53% to 32,4906 units in December 2024 as compared with 39,3952 units in December 2023.

Bank of Maharashtra jumped 4.42% after the public sector bank said that its gross advances jumped 21.19% to Rs 2,28,652 crore as of 31 December 2024 as against Rs 1,88,670 crore as of 31 December 2023.

MOIL gained 3.16% after the company stated that it has achieved best ever Q3 performance in October-December 2024, with production of 4.6 lakh tonnes of manganese ore.

Zee Entertainment Enterprises added 1.33% after the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) rejected settlement applications filed by the company and Punit Goenka.

Yes Bank added 1.84% after the bank reported a 12.6% year-on-year (YoY) increase in loans and advances, reaching Rs 2.45 lakh crore as of 31 December 2024, compared to Rs 2.17 lakh crore in the same period of the previous year.

Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) rose 1.09% after it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with REMCL to collaborate on financing renewable energy projects awarded by REMCL for supply to Indian Railways.

REC rallied 3.64% after the company said that it has disbursed loans amounting to Rs 54,692 crore in Q3 FY24-25, which is higher by 17.98% as compared with Rs 46,358 crore disbursed in Q2 FY23-24.

Shiva Texyarn surged 6.86% after the company received a supply order worth Rs 36.19 crore from the Government of India, Ministry of Defence, Department of Military Affairs, and Indian Air Force.

Afcons Infrastructure added 1.64% after the company received a Letter of Intent (LoI) worth Rs 1,084.54 crore from the Government of Indias Ministry of Defence and Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Cupid jumped 5.32% after the company said that it has received purchase orders from the Government of Tanzania for supply of male condoms worth Rs 14.91 crore.

V2 Retail was locked in upper circuit of 5% after the speciality retailers standalone revenue from operations grew 58% YoY to Rs 591.03 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2024.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News