Market Wrap Podcast, July 27: Here's all that happened in the markets today

As the global mood soured and investors booked profits in bulk in pharma names amid regulatory concerns at Dr Reddy's Labs, benchmark indices reversed early gains and retreated for the second day on Tuesday.

Regulatory overhaul by the Chinese government drove MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan to its lowest level since December. Hong Kong benchmark fell 2.84 per cent and Chinese blue-chip shares cracked 2.9 per cent. Although Japan and Aussie markets showed resilience.

The European markets and US futures were also subdued amid risk-off sentiment amid investors ahead of the US Fed meet later today.

Amid this backdrop, the BSE barometer Sensex declined 274 points or 0.52 per cent to 52,579 while the Nifty50 closed shop at 15,746, down 79 points or 0.49 per cent. DRL, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma were the top index losers while Tata Steel, Bajaj twins and SBI were the top gainers.

Broader market outperformance continued as Nifty Smallcap declined 0.02 per cent and Nifty Midcap 0.43 per cent.

Meanwhile, in sectoral space, the Nifty Pharma index clocked its biggest intra-day crash in the seventh month as it declined over 5 per cent. Weak Q1 show by select names and a probable action against pharma major DRL on a whistleblower complaint were key overhangs. It finally settled 4.3 per cent down.

Metal index with a gain of nearly 1.5 per cent outperformed.  

In stock-specific action, DRL shares tanked 10 per cent to Rs 4844.35 after the company in in its Q1 filing said it has commenced a detailed investigation into an anonymous complaint that alleges healthcare professionals in Ukraine and potentially in other countries were provided with improper payments by or on behalf of the company in violation of US anti-corruption laws. DRL has disclosed the matter to the US Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission and Securities Exchange Board of India. Further, the company posted a 1 per cent YoY decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 570.8 crore in the June quarter (Q1FY22).

Inox Leisure shares rallied nearly 6 per cent to Rs 320.65 on the BSE even as the company refuted media reports claiming that Amazon is looking to pick a stake in the firm.

HUDCO stock tanked nearly 4 per cent to Rs 45.40 as the two-day offer for sale by the government to sell up to 8 per cent stake opened for instititional investors. The issue was oversubscribed on Day 1 of bidding.

APL Apollo Tubes hit a 52-week high of Rs 1819.3 after the company said board would consider bonus issue of shares at their meeting on August 6. The scrip finally ended the day 8 per cent up at Rs 1735.70 on the BSE.

Even as the pharma stocks bled, the IPO by Glenmark Life Sciences received strong investor response on Day 1 of the bidding process. The IPO sailed through on Day 1 itself with nearly 3 timed bids.

Now, going into trade on Wednesday, the focus would remain on earnings season with over 60 companies slated to post their Q1 earnings, including Maruti Suzuki, Nestle India, Birlasoft, Happiest Minds, Icra and UBL. Besides, focus will be on the Fed's policy meeting. Lastly, FII flow and global cues will continue to sway market moves.