Market Wrap, Jan 20: Sensex declines over 400 pts, Nifty slips below 12,300

After scaling fresh record highs during the early morning deals, equity markets slumped nearly a per cent on Monday as investors turned to profit booking. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex declined 760 points from the record high level of 42,274 to hit an intra-day low of 41,503. On the NSE, the Nifty50 slipped below the crucial 12,250-mark in the intra-day trade. The 50-share index hit a record high of 12,430.50-mark in the opening deals, but eventually hit an intra-day low of 12,220.70.

At close, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 416 points, or 0.99 per cent, at 41,529 level. Heavyweights like Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, TCS, Axis Bank and SBI were the top contributors towards today's fall. 

The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 12,224-mark, down 128 points or 1.03 per cent. Among key sectoral indices, Nifty Bank tanked 494 points dragged by Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Shares of Reliance Industries slipped 3.4 per cent to Rs 1,527 on the BSE on Monday despite the company logging its highest-ever quarterly consolidated net profit of Rs 11,640 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019. While the consolidated net profit jumped 13.5 per cent year-on-year, the consolidated revenue decreased by 1.4 per cent YoY. At close, the stock was 3 per cent down at Rs 1,532.

On the upside, HCL Technologies scaled lifetime high of Rs 618.90 on the BSE after it reported a better-than-expected 2.1 per cent sequential revenue growth in constant currency (CC) terms. The Street had expected growth of around 1.5 per cent. At close, the counter was 1.6 per cent down.

Additionally, shares of telecom firms Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea gained 2.5 per cent and 13.5 per cent, respectively in the intra-day trade after reports said the firms will appeal before the Supreme Court to allow them and the department of telecommunications work out a timeframe for paying dues they owe the government for Adjusted Gross Revenue. 

The broader markets, too, gave up their 9-days gaining streak on Monday and settled the day in the negative territory. The S&P BSE mid-cap index declined 0.57 per cent to close at 15,619, while the S&P BSE small-cap index settled 0.43 per cent lower at 14,645.

Moving on to the buzz in the primary market:

Indian Railway Finance Corporation has filed draft papers with markets regulator Sebi for its initial public offering. The public issue is of up to 140.7 crore equity shares, of which up to 93.8 crore equity shares are fresh issue, and up to 46.9 crore equity shares are offer for sale. 

Here's how the global markets performed today: 

World stocks held near record highs on Monday. In Asia, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat having risen to its highest since June 2018. Japan’s Nikkei added 0.2 per cent to be near its highest in 15 months.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index slipped 0.3 per cent, after gaining nearly 1per cent on Friday. US stock futures, meanwhile, were down marginally. 

In the commodities market, Brent Crude Futures were at $65.11 per barrel-mark, up 0.4 per cent at 3:30 pm after two large crude production bases in Libya began shutting down following a blockade.