Share Market LIVE: Sensex ends 237 pts lower, Nifty below 17,500; HDFC twins top losers

Good morning!

Indian equity market fell for the second straight session on Tuesday, tracking heavy losses in metal, energy and IT shares amid weak global cues. Sensex slumped 388 points to end at 58,576 and Nifty declined 144 points to 17,530.

What's next? Here are the latest updates!

3:30 pm: Market closing

Sensex closed over 237 points lower at 58,338.9 and Nifty fell over 55 points to close at 17,475.65.

ITC and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on Sensex, followed by HUL, SBI and NTPC.

Maruti Suzuki and HDFC were among the top losers.

3:00 pm: Passenger vehicle sales in India fall nearly 4% YoY in March: SIAM

Passenger vehicle wholesales in India declined 3.9 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 2,79,501 units in the month of March, auto industry body SIAM said on Wednesday.

The total passenger vehicle sales in March 2021 stood at 2,90,939 units.

As per the latest data by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), two-wheeler dispatches to dealers also fell 20.8 per cent to 11,84,210 units, compared to 14,96,806 units in March 2021.

Motorcycle sales during the last month also plunged 20.88 per cent to 7,86,479 units as against 9,93,996 in March 2021.

Scooter sales were also down 21.4 per cent at 3,60,082 units from 4,58,122 units a year ago.

Three-wheeler sales, however, declined marginally to 32,088 units as compared with 32,310 units in March last year.

2:00 pm: Anand Rathi Wealth Limited shares on a roll

Shares of Anand Rathi Wealth Limited jumped over 16 per cent to hit an all-time high of Rs 711.95 after the company reported an over three-fold jump in its profit after tax at Rs 35 crore for the quarter ended March 2022.

Anand Rathi Wealth Limited had posted a Profit After Tax (PAT) of Rs 10 crore in the same quarter the preceding fiscal. 

The stock opened per cent higher at Rs 650.90 against the previous close of Rs 611.70. With a market capitalisation of Rs 2,840 crore, the shares stand higher than 5 day, 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages.

Revenue rose by 49 per cent to Rs 115 crore in the quarter under review compared to Rs 77 crore in the year-ago period. For the entire financial year 2021-22, the company posted a PAT of Rs 127 crore and a revenue of Rs 426 crore.

12:30 pm: Infosys shares trade higher ahead of Q4 earnings

Infosys, which is slated to announce its earnings today, may report over double-digit growth in net sales and net profit on a year-on-year (YoY) basis for the quarter ended March 31, as several brokerage houses believe.

Brokerage house YES Securities believes that Infosys may post a 26.30 per cent and 20.30 per cent year-on-year (YoY) rise in net sales and net profit, respectively, in Q4FY22.
 
“Growth for Infosys to be broad-based across industry verticals with almost flat QoQ margin,” YES Securities said, adding Infosys may see 4.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in top line and 5.1 per cent QoQ rise in profit after tax during the quarter.

Market participants should zero in on the commentary related to the outlook on attrition, IT budget, steps taken to manage supply-side challenges, deal environment and FY23 revenue, margin guidance and deal pipeline and deal closure momentum.

An assessment by KR Choksey Shares and Securities showed that Infosys net sales is likely to grow 25.30 per cent YoY in Q4FY22, while net profit and EBIT may increase by 16.30 per cent and 18.80 per cent YoY, respectively. The brokerage is positive on Infosys with a target price of Rs 2,094.

On the other hand, it added that margins are likely to contract by 43 basis points QoQ at 23.2 per cent, impacted by retention cost and lower utilisation. It also foresees a de-growth of 128 basis points on a YoY basis in operating profit margin.

HDFC Securities, which prefers Infosys in the tier-1 IT space, said the net profit of Infosys may increase 24.80 per cent YoY and 3 per cent on QoQ basis. On the other hand, it sees a 15.40 per cent YoY and 0.80 per cent QoQ rise in net profit in Q4FY22.

11:00 am: IOC in focus

Indian Oil Corp, the country's top refiner, has purchased a total of 4 million barrels of crude via tenders for May and June loading, traders said on Wednesday.

The refiner bought 2 million barrels of Murban crude and another 2 million of West African crude, they added. It was not immediately clear which West African grades IOC had purchased.

10:30 am: RBI may go for first repo rate hike in June: SBI report 

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is expected to hike the repo rate by at least 50 basis points (bps), beginning June, according to an SBI's research report- Ecowrap. The bank said that it expects a 25 bps rate increase each in June and August, with a cumulative rate hike of 75 bps in the cycle.  

"With RBI prioritising inflation over growth, as stated by RBI Governor in post policy press conference, we now expect RBI to hike repo rate by at least 50 bps, beginning June," the report said on Wednesday. It further stated that yields are also likely to move up tracing yields in advance economies and Asian peers. The report added that the G-sec yields could touch 7.75% by September. 

"We believe, RBI will keep the G-sec yields capped at 7.5% through unconventional policy measures," it noted. 
The report stated that any extension of GST (goods and services tax) compensation beyond June 2022 and any additional borrowing to meet it will be another factor to watch for.

10:00 am:Tata Steel shares shine on acquisition of SAIL's Stake in S&T Mining

Shares of India's largest steel manufacturing company Tata Steel jumped over 2 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 1,346 on BSE after the company announced that it has completed the acquisition of the entire stake held by state-owned SAIL in S&T Mining.

The company informed that the acquisition is part of Tata Steel Group's portfolio restructuring and simplification strategy.

The stock opened a tad higher at Rs 1,338.80 against the previous close of Rs 1,320.55. With a market capitalisation of more than Rs 1,63,000 crore, the shares stand higher than 20 day, 50 day, 100 day and 200 day moving averages but lower than 5 day moving averages.

Tata Steel had recently said that it has executed a share purchase pact with Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) for acquiring the latter’s entire 50 per cent stake in S&T Mining Co Ltd.

9:16 am: Market opening

Benchmark indices opened higher amid mixed global cues. Sensex opened over 300 points higher at 58,878.95 and Nifty was trading points higher at 17,620.95.

Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel were the top gainers on Sensex.

Dr Reddy's and Asian Paints were the top losers. 

8:45 am:  FII and DII action

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,128.39 crore on April 12, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 870.01 crore, as per provisional data available on NSE.

8:40 am: Global updates

Wall Street closed sharply lower on Monday as investors started the holiday-shortened week in a risk-off mood, as rising bond yields weighed on market-leading growth stocks ahead of crucial inflation data. All three major US stock indexes ended deep in negative territory, with tech and tech-adjacent stocks pulling the Nasdaq down 2.2 percent.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 413.04 points, or 1.19 percent, to 34,308.08, the S&P 500 lost 75.75 points, or 1.69 percent, to 4,412.53 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 299.04 points, or 2.18 percent, to 13,411.96.

Shares in Asia-Pacific rose in Wednesday morning trade as investors watch for market reaction to the release of a slightly hotter-than-expected US inflation report. The Nikkei 225 in Japan climbed 0.55 percent in early trade as shares of Fast Retailing gained more than 1 percent. The Topix index advanced 0.39 percent. South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.46 percent, while the S&P/ASX 200 in Australia edged fractionally higher.

8:30 am: SGX Nifty

The Indian equity market is likely to open flat today as SGX Nifty was trading 37 points higher at 17,598.

The Singapore Stock Exchange is considered to be the first indication of the opening of the Indian market.

8:15 am: Market on Tuesday

Indian equity market fell for the second straight session on Tuesday, tracking heavy losses in metal, energy and IT shares amid weak global cues. Sensex slumped 388 points to end at 58,576 and Nifty declined 144 points to 17,530.

Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Wipro and Bharti Airtel were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.76%. Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, and PowerGrid were among the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 1.67%.

Metal, oil and gas and IT shares were the top sectoral losers with their BSE indices falling 825 points, 499 points and 539 points, respectively.

BSE midcap and small cap indices slumped 369 points and 438 points, respectively.

The market breadth was negative with 1166 shares ending higher against 2253 stocks in the red. 97 shares were unchanged.