Stock Market LIVE: Sensex tanks 400 pts, Nifty below 17,650; IT top drag

The Indian market ended lower for the third consecutive session on Thursday amid weak global cues. Sensex closed 634 points lower at 59,464 and Nifty fell 181 points to 17,757. 

Here's a look at the updates of the market action on BSE and NSE today.

11:45 am: Concor Q3 numbers

State-owned Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor) on Thursday reported a 24.46 per cent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 276.35 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2021.

The company had clocked a net profit of Rs 225.66 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago, the multi-modal logistics company said in a regulatory filing to the BSE.

Total income during the October-December quarter of the current fiscal rose to Rs 1,994.18 crore, from Rs 1,842.11 crore in the year-ago period.

11:35 am: Market check

Sensex tanked over 500 points to 58,943.5 and Nifty fell 160 points to 17,598. Nifty PSU Bank Index slipped 2.26 per cent. All the sectoral indices were trading in red except Nifty FMCG and Nifty Auto.

11:00 am: Havells India shares tank 5%

Shares of consumer electrical goods maker Havells India plunged over 5% today after the firm reported a decline of 12.7 per cent in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 2021. Net profit in Q3 came at Rs 305.82 crore compared to a net profit of Rs 350.14 crore in the October-December quarter a year ago.

Havells India stock opened with a loss of 2.53%  at Rs 1,277 today. It extended losses to touch an intraday low of Rs 1242.05, down 5.20% against the previous close of Rs 1,310.20 on BSE.

10:40 am: Bajaj Finserv shares tank 4%

Shares of Bajaj Finserv were trading 4 per cent lower on Friday.  The diversified financial services firm on Thursday reported a 2.63 per cent decline in its consolidated profit after tax at Rs 1,256 crore in the quarter ended December 31, 2021. In the year-ago period, the same stood at Rs 1,290 crore.

10:15 am: Gold prices expected to reach $2,000 in the next 12-15 months

Gold prices are expected to go up in the near future as it could benefit from the elevated risk environment, rising inflation, slower growth and low-interest rates.

“Correction from short term hurdles could be used as a buying opportunity although over the course of next 12-15 months an extended rally could be seen over $2,000 (per ounce) with a potential to make new lifetime highs,” says Navneet Damani, VP - Commodity & Currency Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. One ounce is equal to 28.34 grams.

10:00 am: RIL in focus

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) were trading flat ahead of the Mukesh Ambani-led conglomerate's Q3 earnings set to be announced today. RIL share was trading 0.25% higher at Rs 2,484 on BSE. The stock hit an intra day high of Rs 2,490. It closed at Rs 2,478.80 on January 20.

The large cap stock has lost 2% in the last two days. The share trades higher than 20 day, 50 day and 200 day moving averages but lower than 5 day and 100 day moving averages.

RIL share has gained 18.23% in one year and has risen 4.74% since the beginning of this year.

9:45 am: HUL shares gain 2% post Q3 earnings

Shares of HUL rose 2 per cent after the company posted its earnings for the quarter ended December 2021.

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) posted a 16.8 per cent year-on-year rise in standalone net profit at Rs 2,243 crore in the quarter ended 31 December, 2021 as India's largest consumer goods maker gained market share in both urban and rural areas amid COVID-19 pandemic.

The Indian unit of British consumer goods giant Unilever, had posted a net profit of Rs 1,921 crore in the year-ago period. 

The company's revenue from operations rose 10.2 per cent to Rs 13,183 crore as compared to Rs 11,959 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal, it said in a regulatory filing.

9:16 am: Market opening

Indian benchmark indices opened sharply lower amid weak global cues. At 09:16 hours, the 30-share BSE index was trading 507 points lower at 58,957.27, and the broader NSE Nifty was down 185 points to 17,571.80.

Bajaj Finserv was the top loser in the Sensex pack, declining over 2 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Infosys and Titan.

ITC and HUL were among the top Sensex gainers.

9:10 am: Market at Pre-open

The benchmark indices were trading sharply lower in the pre-open session. Sensex was trading 425 points lower at 59,039.37 and Nifty was down 143 points at 17,613.70.

8:55 am: Pre-market comment by Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities 

Benchmark Indices saw heavy losses for three sessions and is expecting a gap-down opening on Friday. The Singapore-based SGX Nifty Futures, an early indicator of Nifty50's performance, indicated a negative start for the domestic market as it fell by 135 points.

Other Asian markets declined to track overnight losses on Wall Street, amid concerns about an earlier-than-expected tightening of monetary policy and the pace of economic recovery in the US due to the Omicron variant of COVID-19. As investors turned to the safe-haven assets while awaiting signals on interest rate hikes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting next week, Gold prices were muted on Friday.

Results on 21th January: Reliance Industries, HDFC Life Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company, JSW Steel, Bandhan Bank, CSB Bank, Gland Pharma, Hindustan Zinc, IDBI Bank, Vodafone Idea will be closely tracked to see market movements.

On the technical front, the key resistance levels for Nifty50 are 18,300 followed by 18,500 and on the downside 17,600 followed by 17,300 can act as strong support. Key resistance and support levels for Bank Nifty are 38,500 and 37,500 respectively.

8:45 am: Global Markets

U.S. stocks took a knock overnight, hurt by lingering concerns over the Federal Reserve's tightening and weaker-than-expected economic and earnings data.

On Wall Street, the S&P 500 fell 1.10 per cent, the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.30 per cent and the Dow Jones dropped 0.89 per cent.

In Asia, Nikkei Weighted index was down 1.42 per cent and Hang Seng was trading 0.31 per cent lower. Shanghai Composite was down 0.73 per cent.

8:40 am: FII and DII action

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 4,679.84 crore on January 20, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 769.26 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

8:35 am: Rupee slips 7 paise

The rupee on Thursday slipped 7 paise to close at 74.51 (provisional) against the U.S. dollar, tracking a lacklustre trend in the domestic equity market.

Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows and firm crude oil prices weighed on the local unit. Moreover, investors remained cautious ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's meeting due next week.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local currency opened at 74.43 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.29 and a low of 74.53 during the session.

8:30 am: SGX Nifty

The Indian equity market is likely to open on a negative note as SGX Nifty was down 175 points to 17,640.80 at 8:30 am.

Singapore Nifty (SGX Nifty) is the Indian Nifty index that is traded in the Singapore Stock Exchange and is considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian market.

8:15 am: Market on Thursday

The Indian market ended lower for the third consecutive session on Thursday amid weak global cues. Sensex closed 634 points lower at 59,464 and Nifty fell 181 points to 17,757. Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, TCS, Sun Pharma and HCL Tech were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 4.57%. 

PowerGrid, Airtel and Asian Paints were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 4.86%%.

BSE mid cap and small cap indices fell 17 points and rose 14 points, respectively.

Of 30 Sensex stocks, 23 ended lower. Market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 273.28 lakh crore.