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Volume IconMarket wrap: Sensex, Nifty end flat; BSE IT index hits all-time high

Reliance, Tata Steel decline; NTPC gains 3% on plans to sell stake in newly formed renewable energy arm

ImageBS Web Team New Delhi
Photo: Bloomberg

Photo: Bloomberg

Top headlines
 
·       Sensex, Nifty end flat; Reliance, Tata Steel decline
·       BSE IT index hits all-time high, up 10% in December
·       NTPC gains 3% on plans to sell stake in newly formed renewable energy arm
·       Delta Corp slips 5% as Goa govt caps casino entry at 50%
·       RBI clears Rajeev Ahuja’s appointment as RBL Bank's interim MD & CEO
 
The key benchmark indices witnessed yet another range-bound trading session as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines amid year-end celebratory mood.
 
The BSE Sensex opened 50-odd points lower at 57,755 but soon rebounded into the positive zone and touched a high of 58,010. The index finally settled with a nominal loss of 12 points at 57,794. The NSE Nifty closed 10 points lower at 17,204.
 
Among the 30 Sensex constituents, NTPC surged over 3% after the company announced its plan to hive off up to 50 per cent stake in its newly formed renewable energy arm in the next financial year. IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's and Titan were the other prominent gainers. On the flip side, Reliance Industries was a major laggard. The stock slipped nearly 2% and alone accounted for a loss of 120 points for the BSE benchmark.
 
The broader indices finished on a mixed note. The BSE Midcap declined 0.2 %, and the Smallcap index rose 0.3 %.
 
Sectorally, IT counters saw the biggest action. Shares across midcaps and large caps rallied on hopes of strong December quarter earnings. The BSE IT index hit a new all-time high of 38,028 and closed 1% higher.
 
In its earnings preview for the IT sector, IDBI Capital expects demand outlook for all companies to remain robust for both December quarter and FY22. They expect midcaps to outperform large caps.
 
Similarly, being another defensive sector, pharma also showed strong momentum in an otherwise dull market and helped frontline indices recover from their morning losses. 
 
On the other hand, banking stocks, especially PSUs, were under pressure as the RBI’s financial stability report suggested that banks might see a surge in bad loans with NPAs rising from 6.9% in September 2021 to 8.1% in September 2022 under the base-case scenario.
 
Among individual stocks, Delta Corp ended nearly 5% lower on the BSE following reports that the Goa government had imposed fresh restrictions on occupancy rate at entertainment parks, including casinos, in the wake of the Omicron threat.
 
And lastly, the Reserve Bank of India approved the appointment of Rajeev Ahuja as interim Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of RBL Bank for up to three months. He had been appointed to this position on December 25 after the bank’s former MD & CEO Vishwavir Ahuja had gone on a medical leave.
 
RBL has denied media reports suggesting that a Rs 300-crore write-off by the bank in the loan account led to the central bank's intervention. The stock of the private bank today fell 10% on the BSE.

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First Published: Dec 30 2021 | 6:53 PM IST