Sensex ends 173 points lower in volatile trade; Nifty below 11,700

NEW DELHI: Cement and paint companies emerged as top gainers on Thursday but failed to nullify the drag caused by financial stocks which were out of favour amid weak global cues that dampened market’s spirit.

The volatility was heightened during the day as October F&O contracts expired leading to some gyrations. Stocks also wobbled between green and red due to their individual Q2 earnings.

The 30-share pack Sensex fell 172.61 points or 0.43 per cent to 39,749.85, extending the losing run to the second day. Its broader peer, NSE Nifty dropped 58.80 points or 0.50 per cent to 11,670.80.

“Markets across the world are volatile because of rising corona cases impacting the recovery of the economy and ambiguities over the US election and stimulus package. This weakness can stay for the short-term, a reversal can happen as strong fiscal and monetary stimulus is expected from govts and central banks in the world to overcome the crisis,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial services.

Market at glance:

• L&T slumps 5% despite winning Rs 25K crore contract
• Titan, Axis Bank drop up to 4% after their Q2 show
• HDFC twins also see selling, among top drags in Nifty, Sensex
• Shares of jute companies jump up to 11% on government support
• 97 stocks hit 52-week high: Adani Green, Havells, Just Dial, APL Apollo and Asian Paints top names

Among blue chip names, Asian Paints was the biggest gainer, up 3.02 per cent at Rs 2,224.80. It was followed by Tech Mahindra that got a Rs 400-crore contract from HAL, UltraTech Cement, Shree Cement, HCL Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Wipro that rose 1-3 per cent.

The biggest loser from the Nifty index was L&T, which published its Q2 numbers on Wednesday and also received a high speed rail contract. It was down 4.85 per cent, followed by Titan, Adani Ports, ONGC, Axis Bank and M&M that dropped 2-4 per cent.

Broader market indices also saw selling pressure as Nifty smallcap dropped 0.92 per cent, underperforming its peers. Nifty Midcap dropped 0.43 per cent and Nifty 500 was down 0.4 per cent.

Navin Fluorine, Adani Enterprises, Future Retail, Affle India, Lux Industries and IDFC were among the top gainers from mid and smallcap indices, rising in the range of 3-8 per cent.

ICICI Securities, Vodafone Idea, L&T Technology Services, Strides Pharma, Sonata Software and Tata Elxsi were among the top losers from broader market space, settling down 3-9 per cent.

Barring Nifty IT that gained 0.32 per cent, all sectoral indices closed inthe red. Nifty Media was the biggest loser, down 1.85 per cent while Nifty Auto and Nifty FMCG closed down about a per cent each. Nifty Pharma also registered some losses.
Market breadth was in favour of the losers as 1,029 stocks ended in the green, while 1,560 names settled with cuts. As many as 97 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 58 names hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 220 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 217 lower circuit limits.

European shares saw some buying after a sharp drop in the previous session. Markets in London, Frankfurt and Paris were trading up 0.1-0.4 per cent. However, in Asia all markets except China, closed with losses. Taiwan and Singapore were biggest losers, down over a per cent each.

Let’s prepare for tomorrow:

• Q2 earnings: Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Indian Oil Corp, Dixon Technologies, DLF, Just Dial, Jindal Steel & Power, Tata Chemicals, Zee Media among major names that will declare their numbers on Friday.

• Macro data: The government will release September budget data and infrastructure output that will be tracked by investors.

• FX reserves: RBI will release foregn reserves data for the week ended October 23 that will show how much dollars the central bank has been buying or selling.