Market Wrap, Oct 24: Sensex ends 38 points lower; Nifty settles at 11,583

Headlines of the day:

>> Blow to Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea as SC rejects appeal against AGR definition

>> Sensex ends flat with negative bias, ends 38 pts lower; Nifty settles at 11,583

>> Bharti Airtel shares make a strong comeback, ends 3% higher after plunging 10% in the intra-day deals

>> Maruti Suzuki Q2 profit dips 39% YoY to Rs 1,359 crore

Benchmark indices ended flat with negative bias on Thursday amid selling in financial, IT and auto counters. Although, the session did witness some stellar stock-specific performances, the broader market remained weak. That apart, telecom companies came under heavy pressure during the day after the Supreme Court (SC) rejected their appeal against the Union government’s definition of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).

Although, Bharti Airtel made a smart comeback after slipping 10 per cent in the intra-day deals, Vodafone Idea plummeted over 23 per cent to Rs 4.33 apiece on the BSE. 

The S&P BSE Sensex lost 38 points or 0.10 per cent to end at 39,020, with Bharti Airtel (up over 3 per cent) being the top gainer and YES Bank (down nearly 6 per cent) the biggest loser. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index lost 57 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 14,339 levels and the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed at 13,204, down 19 points or 0.14 per cent.

Market breadth was in favour of declines as out of 2,619 companies traded on the BSE, 1,382 declined and 1,074 advanced while 163 remained unchanged. 

On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index settled at 11,582, down 22 points or 0.19 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, all but realty stocks ended in the red. Nifty Realty gained nearly 1 per cent to end at 263.90 levels. PSU Bank stocks slipped the most, followed by private banks. The Nifty PSU Bank lost 3.45 per cent to close at 2,228.35. 

Stocks that made news today:

Reliance Industries hit a new high of Rs 1,441 apiece on the BSE. At close, the stock stood at Rs 1,436, up over 3 per cent. Other heavyweights such as HCL Technologies (HCL Tech) and Asian Paints, too, gained in the trade. HCL Tech ended at Rs 1,119 on the BSE, up over 2 per cent, Asian Paints rose over 1 per cent to 1,791 on the BSE. 

Among others, shares of state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) advanced 5 per cent to Rs 6.19 apiece on the BSE after the Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Rs 70,000 crore relief package for the company and for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL). While approving the package for the two financially stressed entities, the Union Cabinet also drew up a timeline to merge them.

IT major Infosys slipped over 2% to Rs 635.40 on the BSE after it said the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched a probe into whistleblower claims that the Indian software services firm used 'unethical practices' to boost revenue and profit.