Sensex slips 537pts on weak global cues, Nifty holds 17K; Bajaj Fin dips 7%

CLOSING BELL: Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will come out with its IPO on May 4

MARKET LIVE: Sensex off lows, down 550pts; Financials drag, US futures rise

CLOSING BELL

Benchmark indices remained range-bound on Wednesday as investors were hit by sour global cues. Amid fears of weak global growth outlook due to the Ukraine-Russia war, coupled with rising Covid-19 cases, equity markets headed lower while oil prices rose.

Against this backdrop, the S&P BSE Sensex gyrated 495 points intra-day before settling at 56,819, down 537 points or 0.94 per cent. On the NSE, the Nifty50 shut shop at 17,037, down 164 points or 0.95 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices closed up to 0.8 per cent down. Sectorally, all the indices closed in the red zone, led by the Nifty Financial Services index (down 1.45 per cent).

LIC IPO

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) will come out with its IPO on May 4. The company has set a price band at Rs 902 to Rs 949 per equity share, said Dipam Secretary Tuhin Kanta Pandey. He added that it will be called LIC 3.0 phase. READ MORE

RIL IN FOCUS

Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd's (RIL) became the first Indian listed company to touch the Rs 19-trillion market capitalisation-mark after its shares scaled a record high. The stock hit a new high of Rs 2,827.10, up 2 per cent on the BSE in Wednesday's intra-day trade in an otherwise weak market. READ MORE

4:05 PM

Market view: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Market continued to be gripped by high volatility following a heavy selloff in the global markets led by elevated energy crisis and weak Chinese economic outlook underpinned by prospects of US rate hikes. Investors are weighing the possibility of a global slowdown due to monetary tightening by central banks, lockdown in China and Russia -Ukraine war. This has resulted in an outflow of funds from equity markets to safe havens.

4:02 PM

European markets edge higher

4:01 PM

Analyst view on LIC IPO: Shivam Bajaj, Founder & CEO at Avener Capital

Amidst the volatile environment, the revision in the LIC IPO valuation demonstrates the keenness of the government to deliver on the IPO. The revised IPO valuation can potentially unlock a favourable opportunity for investors towards wealth creation. Being a landmark issue for the nation, LIC is expected to be pinned on global portfolio watchlists.

3:56 PM