Sensex skids 531 pts; RIL, IndusInd Bank dip 5%, pharma stocks outperform

India VIX ticked up 4 per cent

MARKET LIVE: Indices at day's low; Sensex dips 400 pts, Nifty below 14,300

Stock market updates: Indian equities failed to hold on to their gap-up start and skid 1 per cent on Monday as profit booking in Reliance Industries' stock and weakness in banking counters erased gains. That apart, reports of a fresh clash between Indian and Chinese troops, which left many injured, in Sikkim soured sentiment. READ MORE

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled the session at 48,347.6 levels, down 531 points or 1.09 per cent, dragged by Reliance Industries (down 5.6 per cent), IndusInd Bank (down 5.5 per cent), HCL Tech (down 3.86 per cent), and HDFC (down 1 per cent).

The Nifty50, meanwhile, gave up the 14,250-mark and closed at 14,239 levels, down 133 points or 0.93 per cent.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 1.14 per cent to end at 18,547 levels, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 18,211 levels, down 1.15 per cent.

The volatility index, India VIX, ended nearly 4 per cent higher today at 23.25 levels.

Sectorally, pharma stocks outperformed the market with the Nifty Pharma index ending nearly 2 per cent higher. On the downside, the Nifty Realty and the Nifty IT index ended with a cut of 1 per cent.

Domestic markets will remain shut on Tuesday on account of Republic Day holiday.

Global markets

Asian shares climbed to near all-time highs on Monday as concerns over rising Covid-19 cases and delays in vaccine supplies were eclipsed by optimism of a $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus plan to help revive the US economy.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose to 726.46, while Japan's Nikkei rebounded from falls in early trading to be up 0.7 per cent. Australian shares added 0.4 per cent after the country's drug regulator approved the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine with a phased rollout likely late next month. Chinese shares rose, with the blue-chip CSI300 index up 1.1 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index leapt nearly 2 per cent led by technology stocks.

In Europe, stocks rose as gains in technology shares and upbeat earnings reports helped investors look past the possibility of extended lockdowns. The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.4 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:43 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Shrikant Chouhan, Executive VP, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities

Today, the market has formed “the three black crows candlestick pattern”. Consisting of three consecutive bearish candles at the end of a bullish trend, the three black crows signals a shift of control from the bulls to the bears. The Nifty/Sensex is also diverging negatively on a daily chart and that would trigger further weakness. In brief, the Nifty 50 index is heading for 14100/13900 levels, (BSE Sensex 48100/47500), if it breaks 14200 (BSE Sensex 48400) decisively. On the higher side 14350/49000 and 14500/49400 would be crucial levels to surpass and sustain. As the market is falling vertically, we are of the view that ahead of the budget we should look for adding strong stocks and selective stocks to our positional portfolio between 14100/13900 (48100/47500) levels.

4:37 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Keshav Lahoti, associate equity analyst at Angel Broking

Nifty started on a positive note after suffering steep losses in the previous two trading sessions but could not sustain it and closed down by 1%. Except pharma, all the other sectors closed flat or in red. YES Bank closed down by 3.8% after the private sector lender has posted a net profit of Rs 151 crore in the third quarter ended December 2020 and said it will not be raising capital via equity soon. Heavyweight Reliance Industries tumbled by 5.3% on reporting a 13 per cent rise in quarterly net profit. UltraTech Cement also closed down by 3% even after its quarterly results beat on all the fronts. Now all eyes would be on budget. This week the market will react on the basis of expectation of the budget.

4:24 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Markets traded volatile and lost nearly a percent, in continuation to the prevailing corrective phase. The benchmark opened on a firm note following positive global cues however it pared all its gains no time and hovered range-bound thereafter. Dometic cues viz. decline in index major, Reliance, post the results and news of fresh feud between India-China at Sikkim border dented the sentiment. Finally, the Nifty index ended lower by 0.9% at 14,238.9 levels. On the sector front, except healthcare and metals, all the other indices ended with losses wherein Oil & Gas, IT and Auto were the top losers. The broader indices were trading under pressure from the beginning and lost in the range of 1.2% each.

It’s a holiday-shortened week and we expect volatility to remain high ahead also due to the scheduled expiry of January month derivatives contracts. Besides, we’re seeing participants speculating on the probable announcements in the Union Budget, which is further adding to the volatility. Amid all, we reiterate our view that a decisive close below 14,200 in Nifty would derail the present momentum so participants should align their positions accordingly.

4:20 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Research, HDFC Securities

Indian benchmark equity indices fell for the third straight session on January 25. The Nifty fell post 1315 Hrs as European markets gave up their initial gains. At close, the Nifty was down 133 points or 0.93% at 14,238.90.

Volumes on the NSE were lower than the previous session but in line with recent average. Among sectors, Pharma was the main gainer while IT, Realty and Auto were the main losers. Reliance Industries fell 5.6% - its biggest single-day fall seen in the stock in nearly three months.

Nifty has fallen for the third consecutive session. This has happened after about 4 months. Poor advance decline ratio hints at broader profit taking. Pre Budget nervousness has resulted in some unloading. Locking up of large sums in the recent IPOs have also led to this sell-off. 14123-14148 is the next support band for the Nifty.

4:11 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking.

Fundamental

Indian equity markets opened higher this week on account of positive sentiments across Asia, however markets turned volatile bouncing between gains and losses until profit booking in the afternoon session pulled the benchmarks down. The Nifty index ends today’s session around 0.93% down. Pharma, Metal and Bank sectors were the top gainers, while IT, Auto and Realty sectors were the top laggards. Broader markets saw losses too with the Midcap index moving in line with the benchmarks and the Smallcap was around 1.2% down. For stock specific performance, Grasim Industries, UPL and Cipla were the top gainers in the index today, while Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank and HCL Technologies were the top losers. Going ahead investors will pay attention to the earnings of key companies like L&T to be announced later today.

Technical

Nifty closed at 14238 level with the loss of 120 points on back of few large cap stocks which tumbled over 2% average loss during the trading session. On the other hand, the Bank Nifty index closed at 31198 level with the gain of 31 points. Technically, the benchmark index has been trading in its Upward Rising Channel Formation since the last many days which is a continuation formation and indicates an upside movement. Moreover, it has been trading above its 21 days moving average which shows a positive trend for the time being. At present, Nifty has strong support of 14200 level which is a lower band of the formation as well as recent bottom also placed at 14200 level while upside resistance comes at 14500.

4:02 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities

One more volatile session ended on a negative note as nifty closed a day at 14239 with loss of nearly one per cent and formed three black crows candle pattern which is bearish in nature. The index has breached all good support which hints if index managed to sustain below today’s low then index may hit 14k mark soon which is strong support on the downside, on the higher side now index has good resistance near 14350-14440 zone again that would be profit booking levels for longs

3:51 PM

TECH VIEW :: Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research, CapitalVia Global Research

The market witnessed yet another day where bears were able to take the charge completely despite the positive opening. Market might continue to witness the correction this week. 14170-14200 will be an important support zone, a decisive break-down below this level could lead to the next support zone of 13970-14000. the momentum indicators like RSI, MACD indicating the corrections might continue.

3:50 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Indian markets witnessed a highly volatile trade and closed in red due to weak global market and reports of Indo-China border tension. The downside was equally contributed by all the sectors except pharma which traded in the green. Policy decisions of the US Fed meeting which will commence tomorrow will drive the global market in the coming days. We have seen Indian markets being highly volatile these days and this trend is expected to continue this week as we inch closer to the Union Budget

3:49 PM