Indices open lower, Nifty below 15,100; Magma Fincorp locked in upper circuit

Owning to choppy trading session in markets across the globe & weekly options expiry Indian benchmark indices opened on a weak note.

Sensex opened down 143 points or 0.28% at 51,165, and the Nifty was down 33 points or 0.22% at 15,073. The market breadth was strong as about 1,106 shares advanced, 565 shares declined, while 546 shares remained unchanged on the NSE.

Hindalco, GAIL, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports & Tata Steel were top gainers in opening trades. Eicher Motors, Titan, Here Motocorp, ONGC & Wipro were the laggards.

Major indices on the sectoral front were trading flat Nifty Realty up 0.70% while Nifty Auto was down 0.64%.

Shares of Magma Fincorp were locked in the upper circuit as Adar Poonawalla-controlled Rising Sun Holdings will acquire a 60% stake in the non-banking financial company (NBFC) by subscribing to a Rs 3,456-crore preferential issue.

Results today

ITC, Coal India, Power Grid Corporation, ACC, Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Hindusthan Sugar, Bosch, CRISIL, General Insurance Corporation of India, Gujarat Pipavav Port, HUDCO, MRF, NHPC, Oil India, Petronet LNG, Power Finance Corporation, VA Tech Wabag, Zee Media Corporation & others.

Stocks in focus

Titan Company reported 10.76% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 525 crore on 16.93% rise in total income to Rs 7,659 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Aurobindo Pharma reported 317.67% surge in consolidated net profit to Rs 2,946.46 crore on 57.14% rise in total income to Rs 9,312.20 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Bata India reported 77.66% fall in consolidated net profit to Rs 26.42 crore on 25.83% fall in total income to Rs 628.84 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Indraprastha Gas reported 28.4% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 381.83 crore on 12.25% fall in total income to Rs 1,519.03 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Thursday as multiple major markets in the region are closed for holidays. Markets in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan are closed for holidays.

In the US, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged slightly lower on Wednesday as big tech stocks slid amid an ongoing rotation of portfolio holdings that gave a boost to energy shares and kept the overall market near record highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both opened at record highs but soon drifted lower, while the Dow set a new peak during the session.