Sensex slips 381 points at open, Nifty below 15,600; PSU banks & metal stocks dip

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Equity benchmarks opened lower on Monday tracking weak cues from Asian peers. In early trade, Sensex declined 381 points or 0.73% to 51,962, while the broader Nifty 50 was at 15,578, down 105 points or 0.67%.

As many as 26 of 30 Sensex constituents were trading in the red. M&M tanked 2.02%, ICICI Bank plummeted 1.95%, SBI slipped 1.73%, Axis Bank sunk 1.58% and Ultratech Cement was down 1.57%. On the upside NTPC jumped 2.42%, HUL advanced 1.28%, Asian Paints rose 0.54% and Sun Pharma was up 0.42%.

Barring Nifty FMCG (up 0.18%), all other sectoral indices were in the red. The Nifty Auto, Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Bank, Nifty Metal indices tanked up to 1.2%. While Nifty Realty, Nifty IT and Nifty Pharma slipped anywhere between 0.45-0.75%.

Even in the broader market, the pain was deeper. As the BSE MidCap index lost 0.83% at 22,053 and the BSE SmallCap index was at 24,648 lower 0.40%.

Earnings today

Oil India, Bharat Dynamics, Info Edge, Jaiprakash Associates, Aban Offshore, Deccan Polypacks, GPT Infraprojects, HBL Power Systems, Hindusthan National Glass, MM Forgings, Pokarna, Rico Auto Industries, Sumeet Industries, Talbros Engineering, TCNS Clothing, VST Tillers Tractors are some companies that will be reporting their quarterly earnings today.

Stocks in spotlight

HDFC Bank on Saturday announced that its board has approved to buy 3.56 crore shares or 4.99% stake in HDFC ERGO General Insurance Co. from its parent and mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation. The aggregate consideration for the purchase of 3,55,67,724 shares of Rs 10 each of HDFC ERGO is Rs 1,906.43 crore i.e. Rs 536 per share.

NTPC’s consolidated net profit rose 195.94% to Rs 4541.79 crore in the quarter ended March 2021 as against Rs 1534.70 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2020. Revenue from operations declined 0.95% to Rs 30102.60 crore in the quarter ended March 2021 as against Rs 30390.51 crore during the previous quarter ended March 2020.

CRISIL has downgraded the rating on the long-term bank facilities of Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL) from CRISIL AA/Negative to CRISIL AA-/Negative.

Alkem Laboratories said that the USFDA had conducted an inspection of the company’s manufacturing facility located at St. Louis, the USA from 14 June 2021 to 18 June 2021. At the end of the inspection, the company has received Form 483 with two observations.

Jubilant Industries reported a consolidated net loss (from continuing operations) widened to Rs 27.75 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with a net loss of Rs 1.19 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue from operations surged 58.48% to Rs 195.82 crore in Q4 FY21 compared with Rs 123.56 crore in Q4 FY20. Pre-tax profit stood at Rs 6.73 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a pre-tax loss of Rs 1.07 crore in Q4 FY20.

GMR Infrastructure reported a net loss (from continuing operations) of Rs 725.47 crore in Q4 FY21, lower than the net loss of Rs 1,127.16 crore in Q4 FY20. Revenue from operations dropped 16.12% to Rs 1,633.76 crore in Q4 FY21 as against Rs 1,947.90 crore in Q4 FY20.

NBCC (India) has awarded a work order for the construction of residential towers and civic amenities in New Delhi on TOD norms, EPC mode to NCC at their quoted price of Rs 859.84 crore.

Insecticides (India) reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 21.78 crore in Q4 FY21 as against a net loss of Rs 7.11 crore in Q4 FY20. Net sales during the quarter increased 7.1% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 255.60 crore.

Centrum Capital said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued in-principle approval to Centrum Financial Services, the company’s step-down subsidiary, to establish a small finance bank (SFB).

Ashoka Buildcon reported a 5.9% rise in net profit to Rs 142.46 crore on a 9.6% increase in net sales to Rs 1735.57 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.

UCO Bank’s board will meet on 23 June 2021 to consider the proposal of raising Tier II Capital of up to Rs 500 crore.

Global markets

Overseas, Asian stocks dropped on Monday as investors mulled the implications of a surprise hawkish shift last week by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, China kept its benchmark lending rate unchanged. China on Monday announced that the one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) was kept unchanged at 3.85% while the five-year LPR was also held steady at 4.65%.

US stocks fell sharply on Friday as traders worried the Federal Reserve could start raising rates sooner than expected.

St. Louis Federal Reserve President Jim Bullard offered a fresh dose of hawkishness, saying Friday that he thinks the Fed should lift its benchmark interest rate as early as late 2022.