Closing Bell: Nifty below 23,400, Sensex down 548 pts; all sectors in the red

Market Close | Sensex, Nifty end lower on fourth day

Indian equity indices ended on a negative note with Nifty below 23,400 on February 10. At close, the Sensex was down 548.39 points or 0.70 percent at 77,311.80, and the Nifty was down 178.35 points or 0.76 percent at 23,381.60

We wrap up today's edition of the Moneycontrol live market blog, and will be back tomorrow morning with all the latest updates and alerts. Please visit https://www.moneycontrol.com/markets/global-indices for all the global market action.

At closing, the benchmark Sensex dropped 0.7 percent, or 548 points, settling at 77,311.80, while the Nifty50 index declined by 0.76 percent, or 178.35 points, to 23,381.60...Read More

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities

Markets displayed pessimism since early trades as stocks crumbled amid subdued corporate earnings and the ongoing uncertainty over global tariff war. With the rupee showing no signs of cooling off, foreign investors have continued to take the exit route in order to invest in safe haven US financial assets, thus weighing heavily on market sentiment. As valuations remain expensive, mid & small cap stocks continue to take hammering.

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

The downside momentum continued in the market for the fourth consecutive sessions on Monday and Nifty closed the day lower by 178 points. After opening lower, the market continued to slide down further in the early part of the session. It later it shifted into range bound action with minor upside recovery towards the mid to later part of the session.

A long bear candle was formed on the daily chart, that has started to move below the crucial cluster supports of around 23400 levels (10/20-day EMA and support as per change in polarity). This is not a good sign.

A slide below the next support of 23220, the bullish chart pattern like higher tops and bottoms could get nullified and that could have more negative impact on the market.

The underlying trend of Nifty remains negative. Having moved below the crucial supports of 23400, one may expect the market to slide down to 23200 and lower in the short term. Immediate resistance is placed at 23500 levels.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

The US tariff threats continued to impact the market sentiment. Domestic yield is inching higher as investors stay cautious on riskier assets and navigate their investments to safe haven assets like gold. On the earnings front, the companies are facing downgrades in estimates due to a weak demand environment, margin pressure, and a cautious near-term outlook.

Earnings Watch | Escorts Kubota Q3 net profit up 8.5% at Rs 323.2 crore Vs Rs 298 crore, YoY

Earnings Watch | Nykaa Q3 net profit up 60.5% at Rs 26 crore Vs Rs 16.2 crore, YoY

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

The decline continues in the headline index as it has been falling after forming a lower top on the daily chart. Sentiment has weakened further after Nifty dropped below the 21EMA. Additionally, the RSI has entered a bearish crossover.

In the short term, the trend may worsen below 23,350, with the potential to fall toward 23,000 if it sustains below this level. On the higher end, resistance is seen at 23,550.

Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares

The ongoing tariff-related trade war built up has continued to negatively impact the Indian equities. Following a sluggish opening; the Index extended its losses throughout the day and, ultimately closed at 23,381.60 with a considerable drop of 178.35 points. All sectors experienced substantial declines, with the Realty and Metal sectors tumbling the most. The selling pressure was particularly intense in the broader markets, as both Mid and Small-cap segments saw declines of 2.12% and 2.11%, respectively.

With a strong bearish candlestick, the index has decisively broken through its key support level of 23,500, signaling a potential move towards the next support level of 23,240. Meanwhile, the resistance level has shifted lower to 23,465.

Earnings Watch | Power Mech Q3 net profit up 33.3% at Rs 82 crore Vs Rs 61.5 crore, YoY 

Currency Check | Rupee closes marginally lower

Indian rupee ended marginally lower at 87.48 per dollar on Monday versus Friday's close of 87.42.

Market Close | Nifty below 23,400, Sensex down 548 pts; all sectors in the red

Indian equity indices ended on a negative note with Nifty below 23,400 on February 10.

At close, the Sensex was down 548.39 points or 0.70 percent at 77,311.80, and the Nifty was down 178.35 points or 0.76 percent at 23,381.60. About 1029 shares advanced, 2917 shares declined, and 108 shares unchanged.

Trent, Power Grid Corp, Tata Steel, Titan Company, ONGC were among the top losers on the Nifty, while gainers were Kotak Mahindra Bank, Britannia Industries, Bharti Airtel, HCL Technologies, Tata Consumer Products.

Nifty Midcap and Smallcap indices shed 2 percent each.

All the sectoral indices ended in the red with metal, media, pharma, consumer durables, energy, realty down 2-3 percent.

Earnings Watch | Avanti Feeds Q3 net profit up 86.5% at Rs 135.2 crore Vs Rs 72.5 crore, YoY 

Global Markets | European markets trade firm; FTSE up 0.3%

Brokerage Call | UBS maintains ‘buy’ rating on Apollo Tyres, target Rs 525

#1 Q3 another miss driven by India, while Europe in line

#2 Company seeing flattish raw material basket in Q4

#3 They have not planned any price hikes in the near term

#4 Management is targetting US & middle east (esp Saudi Arabia) as the key export markets

#5 Management will start capacity addition for PCR in FY26 in India & EU

Colin Shah, MD, Kama Jewelry

Gold prices have hit fresh highs in the international markets in today’s trading session. The yellow metal prices are seen trading at a level above $2900 mark. The key factor pushing gold prices upwards is the latest tariff threats by US President Trump that is boosting the demand for safe-haven assets like gold.

Additionally, US is also likely to impose new 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports into the U.S. This latest move is on top of existing metals duties. The possibility of a likely US-China trade war are also supporting the prices of gold.

Given the uncertainty of trade war and geopolitical tensions, we expect gold prices to touch levels of $3000 for the international markets and INR 88,000 in the domestic market respectively.

Anuj Choudhary – Research Analyst at Mirae Asset Sharekhan

Indian Rupee touched fresh record lows in early trades on weak domestic markets and a strong US Dollar index. However, Rupee recovered early losses on supposed intervention by the RBI. The US non-farm payroll report was mixed with job additions missing estimates while unemployment rate was better than forecast.

We expect Rupee to trade with negative bias amid weak domestic markets and FII outflows. A strong US Dollar amid uncertainty over US trade tariffs may also weigh on the Rupee. However, any intervention by the RBI may support the Rupee at lower levels. Traders may take cues from inflation data from US and India this week. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 87.25 to Rs 87.80.

Currency Check | Rupee trades marginally lower

The Indian rupee has recovered from the record low of 87.95. It is trading marginally lower at 87.47 per dollar against Friday’s close of 87.42.

Brokerage Call | HSBC keeps ‘buy’ rating On Cummins, target cut to Rs 3,500 from Rs 4,200

#1 Q3 profit beat consensus estimate

#2 Impressive topline growth across segments more than offset margin weakness

#3 Limited scope for margin expansion to drive moderation in growth prospects

#4 Reset valuation multiples to factor in moderation in growth

Earnings Watch | Lumax Industries Q3 net profit up 30.9% at Rs 33.5 crore Vs Rs 25.6 crore, YoY

Earnings Watch | Mukand Q3 net profit down 23.2% at Rs 14.9 crore Vs Rs 19.4 crore, YoY

Earnings Watch | VST Tillers Q3 net profit down 92% at Rs 1.7 crore Vs Rs 17 crore, YoY

Brokerage Call | UBS maintain ‘neutral’ rating on M&M, target Rs 3,460

# Market share gains continued across businesses, outlook constructive

#2 Q3FY25 broadly in-line for both autos & FES

#3 Accounting changes for EV subsidiary; more on EV demand & profitability

#4 Stock at 15x FY27 EV/ EBITDA multiple (core) is trading +2 SD above its last 5-year average

Brokerage Call | Jefferies keeps ‘buy’ rating on Thermax, target cut to Rs 4,835

#1 Q3 EBITDA a big 29 percent miss as both revenues & margins disappointed

#2 Q3 saw impact of revenue deferment, loss making projects getting completed

#3 Believe revenue/margin linked 27 percent EPS FY24-27e CAGR should drive upside from current levels

IPO Check | Ajax Engineering IPO subscribed at 0.15 times at 2:50 PM (Day 1)

QIB – 0.0 times

NII - 0.17 times

Retail – 0.23 times

Employee Reserved - 0.44 times

Overall – 0.15 times

Sensex Today | Carborundum Universal shares down most in 8 months

Brokerage Call | Jefferies keeps ‘buy’ rating on M&M, target Rs 4,075

# Delivered 11th consecutive quarter of double-digit EBITDA growth

#2 EBIT margin rose 1.4-2.6 percent YoY in farm & autos

#3 Tractor demand is improving after 1.5 years & company expects 15 percent+ growth in Q4

#4 An expanding portfolio is driving strong SUV volume growth for company

#5 Company has been gaining market share across PVs, tractors & LCVs in recent years

Earnings Watch| Indigo Paints Q3 net profit falls 4% YoY

#1 Net profit At Rs36 Cr Vs Rs37.3 Cr (YoY)

#2 Revenue Down 3.2% At Rs342.6 Cr Vs Rs353.8 Cr (YoY)

#3 EBITDA Down 7.7% At Rs57.2 Cr Vs Rs62 Cr (YoY)

#4 Margin At 16.7% Vs 17.5% YoY)

Earnings Watch| Shilpa Medicare Q3 net profit at Rs32 Cr Vs Rs4.6 Cr (YoY)

#1 Revenue Up 11% At Rs319 Cr Vs Rs287 Cr (YoY)

#2 EBITDA Up 21.4% At Rs81 Cr Vs Rs66.4 Cr (YoY)

#3 Margin At 25.2% Vs 23% (YoY)

The presence of the RBI in the foreign exchange market has made Indian rupee least volatile among Asian peers. According to the Bloomberg data, Indian rupee depreciated 3.2 percent since December 11....Read More

Earnings Watch| Electronics Mart Q3 net profit falls 31% YoY

#1 Net profit at Rs31.5cr Vs Rs45.7 Cr (YoY)

#2 Revenue Up 6.2% At Rs1,884.5 Cr Vs Rs1,774 Cr (YoY)

#3 EBITDA Down 14.2% At Rs99 Cr Vs Rs115.2 Cr (YoY)

#4 Margin At 5.2% Vs 6.5% (YoY)

Earnings Watch| Engineers India Q3 net Profit up 78% YoY

#1 Net profit at Rs93.8 Cr Vs Rs 52.7 Cr (YoY)

#2 Revenue Down 12% At Rs764.6 Cr Vs Rs867.6 Cr (YoY)

#3 EBITDA Up 95.8% At Rs98 Cr Vs Rs50 Cr (YoY)

#4 Margin At 12.8% Vs 5.8% (YoY)

Earnings Watch| Varroc Engineering Q3 net Loss at Rs47.4 Cr Vs net profit Rs382.6 Cr (YoY)

#1 Tax Expense At Rs20.4 Cr Vs Tax Write-back At Rs313 cr

#2 Reports One-time Loss At Rs91 Cr

#3 Revenue Up 10% At Rs2,075.2 Cr Vs Rs1,884.5 Cr (YoY)

#4 EBITDA Up 6% At Rs186 Cr Vs Rs175 Cr (YoY)

#5 Margin At 9% Vs 9.3% (YoY)

IPO Check | Ajax Engineering IPO subscribed at 0.14 times at 1:55 PM (Day 1)

QIB – 0.0 times

NII - 0.15 times

Retail – 0.21 times

Employee Reserved - 0.39 times

Overall – 0.14 times

Brokerage Call | Nomura retains ‘buy’ rating on Fortis Healthcare, target Rs 700

#1 Overall revenue 2 percent above estimate

#2 Hospital revenue 3 percent higher & diagnostic segment revenue in-line

#3 Consolidated EBITDA was 3 percent below estimate

#4 Higher one-time branding related expenses in diagnostics

#5 Net earnings ahead of estimate on lower-than-estimated taxes & exceptional gains

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Waaree Energies share price down on third consecutive session

Sensex Today | HDFC Bank shares extend fall on second day

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Firstsource Solutions shares break 4-day winning run

Earnings Watch | Gillette India Q2 net profit up 21.2% at Rs 126 crore Vs Rs 104 crore, YoY

Brokerage Call | Macquarie maintains ‘outperform’ call on M&M, target raises to Rs 3,643

#1 Tractor demand & margin outlook positive; optimistic on BEV traction

#2 Underlying auto segment margin remains strong

#3 Headline auto margin to be impacted by EV losses in FY26

Brokerage Call | Nomura keeps ‘neutral’ rating on Apollo Tyres, target Rs 470

#1 Growth headwinds from weak macro

#2 Q3 in-line, weak CV/exports, focus on profitability to delay recovery

#3 Commodity tailwinds largely factored in

#4 Focus on profitability over market share likely to be detrimental in medium term

#5 Largely evident in 9MFY25 performance

#6 Current valuation at 6x FY27 EV/EBITDA is in fair value zone

Heavyweight pharma stocks like Dr Reddy's, Cipla, Lupin, and Sun Pharma dipped 1-3 percent, while Alkem Labs, Ipca Labs, and Wockhardt fell 3-6 percent, dragging the Nifty Pharma index down nearly 2 percent....Read More

Earnings Watch | Kirloskar Industries Q3 net profit down 46.3% at Rs 79.5 crore Vs Rs 148 crore, YoY 

Earnings Watch | EIL Q3 net profit up 78% at Rs 93.8 crore Vs RS 52.7 croee , YoY 

Earnings Watch | Saregama India Q3 net profit up 19% at Rs 62.3 crore Vs Rs 52.4 crore, YoY 

Sensex Today | 1.34 million shares of Tata Motors change hands in a block trade: Bloomberg

Mazagon Dock share price: The EBITDA grew 51.4 percent to Rs 817 crore against Rs 539 crore last year, while the margin was up 26 percent against 23 percent on-year....Read More

Brokerage Call | Goldman Sachs keeps ‘buy’ rating on M&M, target Rs 3,800

#1 Q3 beat, core auto + farm EBIT was +5 percent above BBG consensus

#2 Management expects ongoing strength in tractor volumes to continue in Q4 & into FY26

#3 Guidance for 15 percent+ growth in Q4FY25

#4 Demand on Thar Roxx, Thar 3 Door, & XUV 3xo SUVs are collectively driving 4,000/month capacity increase on these models over next 3 months

Brokerage Call | HSBC keeps ‘hold’ rating on VRL Logistics, target cut to Rs 600

#1 Price increases & cost efficiencies drive sharp margin improvement

#2 Profitability improvement is impressive, need to see sustainability of it with volume growth

Brokerage Call | CLSA keeps ‘outperform’ call on M&M, target Rs 3,510

#1 Although experienced a QoQ decline in its ASP for auto/farm segments

#2 Still achieved an all-time high auto EBIT margin of 9.7 percent

#3 Believe XUV 3X0, Thar Roxx & new EVs will help company gain market share in UVs

#4 Believe it will be tough for it to maintain margin with rising EV scale

#5 Company remains confident in industry tractor volume growth of >15 percent Q4

Key aspects to watch include the demand outlook for existing models and the timeline for upcoming launches....Read More

Global Markets | Asian markets end mixed; Strait Times up, Taiwan Weighted down 1%

Apollo Hospitals' efforts to ramp-up occupancy levels and average revenue per occupied bed is expected to drive solid earnings growth in Q3, which usually remains a seasonally weak quarter for hospital majors. ...Read More

Earnings Watch | Rainbow Children Q3 profit up 10.6%, revenue up 18.5%

#1 Net profit up 10.6% at Rs 68.7 crore versus Rs 62.1 crore, YoY

#2 Revenue up 18.5% at Rs 398 crore versus Rs 336 crore, YoY

Sensex Today | Venus Remedies gets marketing authorization from Indonesia

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Renaissance Global secures large order

Renaissance Global secured order of 63,250 pieces of fast-moving lab-grown diamond fashion jewellery from the largest U.S.-based retailer.

Brokerage Call | Nomura initiates ‘buy’ on Anant Raj, target Rs 750

#1 Expect company to generate robust cashflows from residential on solid launch pipeline

#2 Expect company to successfully execute its medium-term data center (DC)/cloud targets

#3 Half of capex can be funded from internal accruals

#4 Concerns about pricing risk for DC/cloud segment appear overdone

#5 India remains largely under-penetrated in DCs

#6 While regulations should drive demand for India-based DC/cloud offerings

#7 Strong demand in GCER should aid residential segment generate robust cash flows

Gupta urged investors to find a good manager and hold for 10 years in a sensible and balanced way...Read More

Brokerage Call | Nomura keeps ‘buy’ rating on M&M, target Rs 3,681

#1 Tractor guidance raised; BEV launch next major catalyst

#2 Q3 EBITDA in-line with estimate

#3 Management expects income tax cuts to benefit demand

Earnings Watch | Bharat Seats Q3 net profit up 38% at Rs 7.6 crore Vs Rs 5.5 crore, YoY 

Sensex Today | Bata India shares trade higher ahead of Q3 earnings

Sensex Today | Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders shares extend gains on second day

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Trent shares down in 5 out of 6 sessions

Earnings Watch | Honeywell Automation Q3 profit, revenue increase

#1 Net profit up 3.3 percent at Rs 132.1 crore versus Rs 127.9 crore, YoY

#2 Revenue up 1.8 percent at Rs 1,090.8 crore versus Rs 1,071 crore, YoY

IPO Check | Ajax Engineering IPO subscribed at 0.11 times at 12:40 PM (Day 1)

QIB – 0.0 times

NII - 0.11 times

Retail – 0.17 times

Employee Reserved - 0.30 times

Overall – 0.11 times

Results Today | Genus Power Infrastructures, Gillette India, Hercules Hoists, ICRA, Indigo Paints, among others to announce results today

Eicher Motors, Bata India, Grasim Industries, Force Motors, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, Ashoka Buildcon, Avadh Sugar & Energy, Balmer Lawrie, Bharat Seats, Butterfly Gandhimathi Appliances, CRISIL, EIH Associated Hotels, Elgi Equipments, Engineers India, ESAF Small Finance Bank, Escorts Kubota, Galaxy Surfactants, Genus Power Infrastructures, Gillette India, Hercules Hoists, ICRA, Indigo Paints, Insecticides (India), ISGEC Heavy Engineering, JBF Industries, Kirloskar Industries, Lumax Industries, MSTC, MTAR Technologies, MT Educare, Mukand, Omaxe, Patanjali Foods, PNC Infratech, Power Mech Projects, Saregama India, Satin Creditcare Network, Shilpa Medicare, Sun Pharma Advanced Research Company, TVS Supply Chain Solutions, Universal Cables, Varroc Engineering, VST Tillers Tractors, Zodiac Energy

Key aspects to watch include the demand outlook for existing models and the timeline for upcoming launches....Read More

Sensex Today | Zomato share top losers on the BSE Sensex

Earnings Watch | Borosil Q3 profit down 6.4%, revenue up 11.3%

#1 Net profit down 6.4 percent at Rs 35.5 crore versus Rs 37.3 crore, YoY

#2 Revenue up 11.3 percent at Rs 338 crore versus Rs 303.8 crore, YoY

Currency Check | Rupee recovers but trades lower

The Indian rupee has recovered from the record low but still trading lower by 18 paise at 87.60 per dollar against Friday's close of 87.42.

Stock Market LIVE Updates | Mastek partners with OpenAna to Accelerate AI-Driven Innovation

Mastek today announced its strategic partnership with OpenAna, an innovative AI-driven platform modernizing software development lifecycle (SDLC) processes.

Earnings Watch | Caplin Point Q3 profit up 18.6%, revenue up 13%

#1 Net profit up 18.6 percent at Rs 139 crore versus Rs 117.2 crore, YoY

#2 Revenue up 13.2 percent at Rs 493 crore versus Rs 435.5 crore, YoY

Earnings Watch | Mold-Tek Packaging Q3 profit down 4.2%, revenue rises 15%

#1 Net profit down 4.2 percent at Rs 13.6 crore versus Rs 14.2 crore, YoY

#2 Revenue up 15.2 percent at Rs 190.7 crore versus Rs 165.5 crore, YoY

Earnings Watch | Varun Beverages Q4 net profit up 40.2% at Rs 185 crore Vs Rs 132 crore, YoY 

Sensex Today | PSP Projects Q3 profit plunges 83%

The company reported a 10.58 percent decline in net sales to Rs 630.21 crore in December 2024 from Rs 704.75 crore a year ago, while quarterly net profit plunged 83.74 percent to Rs 5.05 crore from Rs 31.08 crore in the same period.