Share Market LIVE: Sensex rises 150 pts, Nifty above 17,350; HDFC, L&T top gainers

Good afternoon!

Sensex and Nifty closed lower in volatile trade for the second session on Thursday amid a selloff led by banking shares. After moving over 700 points between gains and losses during the day, Sensex finally ended 104.67 points lower at 57,892.

Here's a look at the latest updates of the market today!

12:28 pm: 'Tesla should manufacture here,' says Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, on Friday, spoke at length about green hydrogen, highway infrastructure as well as Tesla's entry into the Indian market. The minister was speaking at Business Today's Brainstorm Budget 2022 event held virtually. He added that the Finance Minister took a revolutionary step of pushing infrastructure in Budget 2022. READ MORE

12: 20 pm: Sensex climbs 150 points to 58,042 and Nifty rises 51 points to 17,356.

11:50 am: Market check

Equity benchmark Sensex was trading 110 points higher at 58,002 and Nifty was up 33 points to 17,338.

HDFC and L&T were the top gainers on Sensex. Ultratech Cement and Nestle India were among the top losers.

11:40 am: BT Brainstorm

"We need more capex on health, education, urban infra, power. A lot of this has to be done by the state governments. The Central Govt. occasionally intervenes," Neelkanth Mishra of Credit Suisse tells Udayan Mukherjee

Watch here: https://www.businesstoday.in/business/union-budget-2022

11:00 am: Do catch some of the engaging conversations on Business Today

What is the way ahead on all the plans and promises made in this year's Union Budget, we find out with ace business leaders & policymakers only on #BTBrainstorm.

Watch here: https://www.businesstoday.in/business/union-budget-2022

10:30 am: Paytm shares hit all-time low, down over 55% from all-time high

Shares of fintech major Paytm have been on a selling spree for quite a long time now. The stock plunged 1.4 per cent to hit an all-time low of Rs 837.55. The market cap of the company slipped below Rs 55,000 crore on BSE.

Currently, the stock is trading 57 per cent lower from its all-time high of Rs 1,961.05. It opened a tad lower at Rs 847.95 against the previous close of Rs 849.65 on BSE. The stock is down over 37 per cent on a year-to-date basis.

10:00 am: Nestle India shares in focus

Shares of Nestle India fell nearly 3% in early trade today after the FMCG giant reported a 19.99 per cent year-on-year (YoY) fall in net profit for the October-December quarter. Nestle India stock slipped 2.78% to Rs 17,582 against the previous close of Rs 18,084 on BSE.

Nestle India shares are trading lower than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages. Nestle India stock has gained 10.13% in one year but has fallen 8.5% since the beginning of this year.

Market cap of the firm stood at Rs 1.73 lakh crore on BSE. Total 725 shares changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 4.27 crore.

The FMCG giant reported a net profit of Rs 386.66 crore for the October-December quarter, down 19.99 per cent year-on-year (YoY) from Rs 483.31 crore recorded during the same period last year.

9:16 am: Market opening

The benchmark indices opened lower amid weak global cues. Equity benchmark Sensex was trading 98 points lower at 57,793.62 and Nifty was down over 31 points to 17,273.70.

Wipro and Tech Mahindra were the top losers on Sensex, followed by HDFC Bank, Nestle India, Infosys and HCL Tech.

Maruti Suzuki and NTPC were among the top gainers.

9:00 am: Pre-market comment by Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities 

Benchmark Indices are likely to open flat to positive tracking mixed global cues as prospects of lower oil prices due to easing Iran sanction outweigh concerns on Ukraine invasion. 

US markets ended lower tracking losses across technology stocks amid increasing tension over Russia-Ukraine dispute. Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for the 105th day on February 18, the longest pause ever, according to a price notification issued by state-owned fuel retailers.

Gold prices on Friday were at their highest since June 2021 as mounting tensions between Russia and the west over Ukraine lifted bullion’s safe-heaven appeal, buttressed by lower U.S. Bond yields. Crucial support for Nifty 50 is 17,000 while Nifty may face some resistance at 17,400.

8:40 am: Rupee update

The rupee declined by 7 paise to close at 75.11 (provisional) against the U.S. currency on Thursday as geopolitical tensions pushed investors towards safe-haven assets.

Forex traders said sustained foreign fund outflows and elevated crude oil prices too weakened the rupee.

8:35 am: FII and DII action

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,242.10 crore on February 16, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 901.10 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

8:30 am: SGX Nifty

The Indian equity market is likely to open on a negative note as SGX Nifty was down 40 points at 17,246.

Singapore Nifty (SGX Nifty) is the Indian Nifty index that is traded in On Tuesday, Sensex closed 187 points higher at 57,808 and Nifty rose 53 points to 17,266.

In the last three sessions, Sensex lost 1,937 points and Nifty plunged 567 points. 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

Sensex and Nifty closed lower in volatile trade for the second session on Thursday amid a selloff led by banking shares. After moving over 700 points between gains and losses during the day, Sensex finally ended 104.67 points lower at 57,892.

Nifty dropped 17.60 points to end at 17,304.60. Banking shares led by ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank were the top losers on Sensex, falling up to 2%. Of the 30 Sensex constituents, 19 ended in the red.

HDFC, RIL and HUL were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.71%. BSE mid cap and small cap indices fell 52 points and 189 points, respectively.