Sensex hits day's low; Nifty holds 15K

The Sensex declined further and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. The Nifty managed to hold above the 15,000 mark. Metal shares witnessed profit booking after a two-day rising streak.

At 11:28 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 148.52 points or 0.30% to 50,044.81. The Nifty 50 index lost 37.15 points or 0.25% to 15,070.95.

The broader market was trading higher. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index gained 0.61% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index rose 0.51%.

The market breadth was strong. On the BSE, 1704 shares rose and 1075 shares fell. A total of 146 shares were unchanged.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 163,963,931 with 3,399,793 global deaths.

India reported 32,26,719 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 2,83,248 deaths, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India reported a total of 2,67,334 Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours. It marks the third consecutive day when cases have come below the 3-lakh mark. The country recorded its highest one-day death toll of 4,529 deaths.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index shed 0.38% to 5,274.10. The index had gained 3.99% in the past two sessions.

Welspun Corp (up 1.83%), APL Apollo Tubes (up 1.19%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.75%), Ratnamani Metals Tubes (up 0.53%) and Hindustan Copper (up 0.48%) advanced.

National Aluminum Company (down 2.03%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 1.23%), Coal India (down 0.82%), SAIL (down 0.80%) and JSW Steel (down 0.53%) declined.

Earnings Impact:

Aarti Industries slumped 5.35% to Rs 1652.95. The company posted a 23.3% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 136.10 crore on 12.4% rise in net sales to Rs 1209.35 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

The chemical maker saw sustained revenue growth driven by volume expansion and 75% contribution from value-added products. The company said that demand for discretionary products has majorly returned to pre-covid levels. The pharma segment revenues were at record levels, profitability sustained as the product basket remains focused on value addition.

The company's board has recommended issuing one bonus equity share for each equity share held (1:1) subject to approval of the shareholders of the company. The company said it will inform the record date in due course.

The board has also approved raising funds by issuing equity shares through qualified institutional placement, private placement/public issue of equity/debt securities, preferential issue or through any other permissible mode for an aggregate amount of up to Rs 1500 crore.

Glaxosmithkline Pharmaceuticals fell 1.40% to Rs 1494.50. The company's consolidated net profit tanked 89.6% to Rs 14.33 crore on 4.9% increase in net sales to Rs 813.75 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

Astral rose 2.24% to Rs 1838.55. The company posted 241.3% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 176.1 crore on 79.3% rise in net sales to Rs 1127.80 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

During the quarter, the management decided to close the loss-making business of joint venture company Astral Pipes (Kenya) and started process for selling of its assets. Due to which during the year the company has provided impairment on investment amounting to Rs 12.3 crore as exceptional item in the statement of profit and loss account.

The company said construction at its Orissa plant is going on as per schedule. The company is planning to start production by September 2021. The company's valve project will be competed in Q2 FY 2021-22.

Global Markets:

US Dow Jones index futures were down 111 points, indicating a weak opening in US stock today.

Asian stocks were mixed on Wednesday. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed for holidays.

Meanwhile, China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions, and warned investors against speculative crypto trading.

U.S. stock indexes wiped out earlier gains and closed at their session lows on Tuesday as Big Tech stocks reversed lower, while data showing housing starts dropped sharply last month also weighed on sentiment.

Housing starts tumbled 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.569 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.

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