Closing Bell: Nifty ends below 18,000, Sensex down 317 pts; realty, metal, IT, banks worst hit

Taking Stock | Market snaps 3-day winning streak; Sensex down 317 points, Nifty below 18,000

Adani Enterprises, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, SBI Life Insurance and HDFC Life were among the major Nifty losers. Gainers included L&T, UltraTech Cement, BPCL, Asian Paints and Grasim Industries.... Read More

Markets witnessed turbulence on the back of weak global cues as investors booked profit in banking, IT and telecom stocks. Rising inflation, US bond yields, and dollar index are once again creating a lot of uncertainty amongst the investors.

For the bulls, 17,900-17,800 or 20-day SMA would act as a key support zone while 50-day SMA or 18,100 and 18,200 could be the immediate hurdle.

On the flip side, the selling pressure could accelerate if the index slips below 17,800 and in case of further correction, it could slip to 17,700-17,650.

The Bank Nifty index on the daily chart witnessed a breakdown with a rise in volumes. The index remains in a sell mode as long as it sustains below the level of 41500.

The index immediate support stands at 41000 and if it fails to sustain it on a closing basis will accelerate the downside move towards 40,000 levels.

Indian rupee marked the fourth weekly decline in a row following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve members that supported the dollar bulls. However, the rupee relatively better performed among the Asian currencies amid the central bank’s intervention. The local unit manages to float above 83 for the time being on the back of the bargain buying of domestic equities by foreign institutions.

Though the rupee manages to stay above 83, it might be difficult to hold it for long amid broad-based strength in the greenback.

Technically, spot USDINR has resistance at 83.10 and support at 82.30.

Lack of major triggers in the domestic market is attracting global cues to dictate the market trend. The US market is facing an unfavourable combination of higher-than-expected inflation and a stronger job market.

The PPI (Producer Price Index) in the US came in at 6.0%, in contrast to the expectation of 5.4%. This suggests that interest rates have not yet peaked and will remain elevated for a long period.

The Nifty has fallen to the upper band of the falling channel on the daily chart. The trend for the near term is likely to remain sideways to positive as long as it remains above the falling channel.

A recovery towards the higher level will likely happen if the bulls manage to hold the Nifty above 17,880. On the higher end, however, 18,150 is likely to act as resistance.

Indian rupee ended 12 paise lower at 82.83 per dollar against previous close of 82.71.

Benchmark indices broke three-day winning streak and ended lower with Nifty below 18,000.

At Close, the Sensex was down 316.94 points or 0.52% at 61,002.57, and the Nifty was down 91.60 points or 0.51% at 17,944.20. About 1468 shares have advanced, 1893 shares declined, and 136 shares are unchanged.

Adani Enterprises, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, SBI Life Insurance and HDFC Lifewere among the major lowers on the Nifty, while gainers included L&T, UltraTech Cement, BPCL, Asian Paintsand Coal India.

Except capital goods, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.

The BSE midcap index fell 0.7 percent and smallcap index down 0.20 percent.

Underperform rating, target at Rs 4,100 per share
Indivior expects launch of Suboxone by Apotex in Q1FY24
Suboxone still constitutes about 7% of company’s base EBITDA
Entry of Apotex can potentially impact 2/5th of its EBITDA from Suboxone
EBITDA from Suboxone can decline by 40%, or 3% of consolidated EBITDA

Dr Reddy's Laboratories was quoting at Rs 4,509.55, down Rs 8.80, or 0.19 percent on the BSE.

Schaeffler India has recorded a 21.2% year-on-year growth in profit at Rs 231 crore for quarter ended December 2022 as revenue for the quarter increased by 17.8% YoY to Rs 1,795 crore.

On the operating front, EBITDA grew by 20.2% YoY to Rs 345.22 crore with margin expansion of 38 bps for Q4CY22.

For the year 2022, profit surged 40% to Rs 879.2 crore and revenue increased 23.5% to Rs 6,867.4 crore compared to previous year. Its board recommended dividend of Rs 24 per share for the year.