Market Wrap Podcast, Oct 19: Here's all that happened in the markets today

The tussle between bulls and bears ended on an anti-climatic note as markets snapped their longest winning streak in nearly 10 months. The benchmark indices closed lower for the first time in eight sessions on Tuesday, on the back of profit booking post in-line September quarter results.

Overall, the headline S&P BSE Sensex ended the session at 61,716 levels, down 49.5 points or 0.08 per cent, dragged by ITC (down over 6 per cent), HUL, Titan, Tata Steel, and UltraTech Cement.

Gains in Infosys, Reliance Industries, L&T, HDFC Bank, and Tech Mahindra, however, capped downside. The 30-pack index touched an intra-day high (also its record high) and low of 62,245 and 61,594, respectively.

It's NSE counterpart, Nifty50, on the other hand, shut shop with losses of 58 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 18,419 levels. It hit an all-time high of 18,604 in the morning trade.

The market breadth also favoured sellers amid profit-booking in the broader markets. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices ended nearly 2 per cent lower each.

However, if tech charts are anything to go by, there is more room for an upside in the frontline indices. The BSE Sensex, for instance, may scale 63,500 levels in days ahead as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is not showing any major negative reversal. The Nifty50, on the other hand, may touch 19,000 given a positive crossover by MACD line.

The Nifty Bank index is eyeing 41,700 levels and the Nifty MidCap and SmallCap indices are approaching 35,000 and 12,500 levels, respectively.

Coming to today's stock-specific action, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) dropped 16 per cent from its record high level of Rs 6,393, touched earlier today, to end nearly 9 per cent lower relative to its previous close amid reports that Indian Railways may appoint a regulator for the sector. The company, which commanded over Rs 1-trillion market capitalization in the intra-day deals today, ended the day with an m-cap of Rs 85,800 crore.

Other railway stocks, such as Rail Vikas Nigam and Railtel Corporation also fell 4 per cent each

That apart, shares of ITC tanked over 6 per cent today amid reports that the government has set-up a panel to mull Taxation policy on tobacco products.

On the flipside, shares of Indian Energy Exchange soared 19 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 956.15 on the BSE in the intra-day trade after the company announced the board will consider a maiden bonus issue proposal in their forthcoming board meeting on Thursday, October 21. The stock, which surpassed its previous high of Rs 819 touched on October 13, 2021, ended 6 per cent higher at Rs 843 on the BSE.

Sectorally, the Nifty IT index ended over 2 per cent higher on the NSE today led by mid-tier IT companies like LTI, LTTS, Mphasis and Coforge. All these shares were up in the range of 5-17 per cent. Tech Mahindra, Mindtree, Infosys, Wipro and HCL Tech gained up to 4 per cent.

Besides, the Nifty Bank index crossed the 40,000-mark for the first time today, hitting a record peak of 40,011 level in the intra-day deals. Global rating agency Moody's has upgraded the outlook on the Indian banking system from "Negative" to "Stable" on the back of stabilising asset quality and improved capital. The index ended 0.36 per cent lower today.

The Nifty Realty index, on the other hand, was the top laggard, down nearly 4.7 per cent, on the back of profit booking.

On the earnings front, Hindustan Unilever on Tuesday reported an 8.86 per cent year-on-year rise in standalone net profit at Rs 2,187 crore for the second quarter of the financial year 2021 (Q2FY22). Meanwhile, on a quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) basis, the figure grew by 6.11 per cent.

Its revenue from operations stood at Rs 12,516 crore during the recently concluded quarter, up 10.99 per cent YoY and 6.7 per cent sequentially. On the bourses, shares closed 4 per cent lower at Rs 2,546 apiece.

As regards Wednesday, corporate earnings and result reactions will continue to dominate the market trend. About 37 companies are set to report their Q2 numbers tomorrow, including Havells India, Jubilant FoodWorks, Just Dial, and Snowman Logistics.

Additionally, global cues, oil prices, and foreign fund flow will also guide the markets tomorrow.