Sensex slips 40 points, Nifty barely holds 16,950; Kalyan Jewellers, Minda Corp & Adani Enterprises tank up to 10%
Indian equity benchmarks returned to negative territory on Tuesday amid a highly volatile trading session. The domestic indices were dragged by automobile, technology and metals. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack slipped 40 points or 0.07 per cent to close at 57,614; while the broader NSE Nifty index moved 34 points or 0.20 per cent lower to settle at 16,952. Mid and smallcap shares finished on a weak note, with the Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.35 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 falling 0.91 per cent. Fear gauge India VIX fell 2.23 per cent to 15.10. Worries such as economic challenges ahead and fresh weakness in Adani Group weighed on investor sentiment today. Adani companies declined today after a report said the conglomerate was seeking to renegotiate terms of outstanding loans worth $4 billion taken to buy ACC and Ambuja Cements.
Selling pressure in select stocks such as Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro and Tech Mahindra pulled the indices lower further. The indices, however, trimmed some of their losses in fag-end trade helped by gains in IndusInd Bank, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank. On the global front, Asian stocks, in contrast, mostly settled higher today.
“Indian markets stayed in the grip of bears as investors remained cautious in expectation of further tightening from the Reserve Bank. Nifty Small and Midcap stocks continued to underperform due to a fall in investors’ risk appetite and FY23 tax harvesting,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
11 out of the 15 sectoral indices on NSE settled in the red. Sub-indices Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, Nifty Metal, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Oil & Gas underperformed the Nifty index by falling 0.97 per cent, 0.88 per cent, 0.79 per cent, 0.41 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services climbed 0.35 per cent and O.27 per cent, respectively.
Shares of Kalyan Jewellers India cracked 9.77 per cent. Today’s sharp drop in the share price came after a media report claimed that Highdell Investment (Warburg Pincus) would sell a 2.50 per cent stake in Kalyan Jewellers at Rs 110 per share, worth Rs 288 crore, through a block deal.
Minda Corporation slumped 7.36 per cent; while Adani Enterprises moved 7.06 per cent lower. Shipping Corporation of India and Aarti Drugs fell up to 6.75 per cent.
Apart from Adani Enterprises, five other group stocks hit their 5 per cent lower circuit limits after a report by The Ken raised questions about whether the group actually repaid debts worth $2.15 billion. The Indian conglomerate is, however, yet to comment.
On the other hand, PNC Infratech jumped 6.46 per cent; while Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company gained 6.10 per cent. Emami, Torrent Power, CSB Bank and Bank of India rose 4.65 per cent and 4.59 per cent, 4.32 per cent and 4.30 per cent, respectively. PNB Housing, Swan Energy, Route Mobile and Manappuram Finance moved up to 3.99 per cent higher.
“On the technical front, no sign of respite was seen in the Nifty index as it struggled in a tight range. There have been no significant changes in the chart structure, showcasing the timidity among the market participants. As far as levels are concerned, 16,900 remains the immediate support, followed by the sacrosanct support of the 16,850-16,800 zone. While on the higher end, 17,100-17,200 is likely to act as the sturdy wall, and an authoritative breach beyond the same could only trigger some more respite in the comparable period,” said Osho Krishan, Senior Analyst – Technical & Derivative Research at Angel One.
Out of a total of 3,644 stocks that traded during the day, 2,502 settled with cuts while 1,042 others ended higher. The rest 100 stocks stayed unchanged.
Also read: Adani Enterprises shares plunge 7%, six Adani group stocks hit lower circuit limits. Here’s why
Also read: Adani Enterprises shares extend fall for 5th straight session, tank 9% today
