Sensex tanks 459 points; Nifty below 14,850
Nifty Metal index was shining bright again with gains of 1.56%
After rallying almost 4% over the last four trading sessions benchmark Indian equity indices opened the May derivatives series on a negative note ahead of Assembly elections results for the states of West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam, and the Union Territory of Puducherry. In opening trade, Sensex tanked 459 points or 0.92% at 49,306 and the broader market index Nifty was trading at 14,808 slipped 86 points or 0.58%.
ONGC, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddy’s, Infosys and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on the Sensex. On the other hand, HDFC twins, Bajaj Finserv, ICIC Bank & HUL were the laggards.
On the sectoral front, Nifty Metal was shining bright again with gains of 1.56%, followed by the Nifty IT index rising 0.82% and Nifty Pharma surging 0.75% while the Nifty Realty was up 0.34%. On the downside, the Nifty Bank index lost 1.18% and Nifty Auto was down 0.24%.
The broader market outperformed the benchmark indices as the BSE MidCap index was trading with marginal losses of 0.08% whereas BSE SmallCap index was up 0.33%.
Earnings today:
Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bank, Marico, Yes Bank, Indian Hotels, Can Fin Homes, RPG Life Sciences, Accelya Solutions India, Ajanta Pharma, Alicon Castalloy, Astec Lifesciences, Atul, B2B Software Technologies, Betala Global Securities, Dugar Housing Developments, Indian Acrylics, Mahindra EPC Irrigation, Maral Overseas, Magellanic Cloud, MRC Exim, Progrex Ventures, Raghav Productivity Enhancers, Sacheta Metals, Shriram City Union Finance, SSPN Finance, Supreme Petrochem, Teesta Agro Industries, Trent, Walchand Peoplefirst will release quarterly earnings on April 30.
Stocks in spotlight:
Wipro announced that it has strengthened its alliance with Citrix Systems, Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). The partnership will provide enterprises a robust solution that will accelerate remote working and bring modernization into workspaces.
Titan Company’s consolidated net profit jumped 62.89% to Rs 564 crore on 58.86% rise in total income to Rs 7,551 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.
Ambuja Cements posted 66.6% rise in standalone net profit to Rs 665 crore in Q1 March 2021 compared with Rs 399 crore registered in Q1 March 2020. Net sales during the quarter stood at Rs 3,579 crore compared to Rs 2,760 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, resulting in a growth of 30%.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories along with its subsidiaries announced the launch of Albendazole Tablets, USP, a therapeutic equivalent generic version of Albenza Tablets, 200 mg, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
IndiaMart InterMesh’s consolidated net profit jumped 25.73% to Rs 55.70 crore on 5.64% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 179.70 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.
Escorts said that considering COVID-19 spread escalation, as a precautionary measure, the company will be temporarily shutting down our manufacturing operations, on a selective basis, between 1st May 2021 and 3rd May 2021. There will be no impact on fulfilling customer demand because of this as the company has sufficient inventory at hand. The shutdown period shall be utilized for routine plant maintenance with employees in essential services present on a rotational basis.
AU Small Finance Bank’s net profit rose 38.15% to Rs 168.98 crore on 14.81% rise in total income to Rs 1,569.01 crore in Q4 FY21 over Q4 FY20.
Global markets:
Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Friday as investors weighed the latest corporate earnings and solid economic growth data.
Data showed China’s factory activity expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in April as the official manufacturing Purchasing Manager’s Index fell to 51.1, from 51.9 in March. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
In U.S., the S&P 500 closed at record levels on Thursday after blowout earnings results from two of the biggest tech companies in the world: Apple and Facebook.
Apple said that sales jumped 54% during the quarter, with each product category seeing double-digit growth. The company also said it would increase its dividend by 7%, and authorized $90 billion in share buybacks. Facebook’s revenue jumped 48%, driven by higher-priced ads.
Economic data released Thursday gave investors an update on the progress of the economic recovery. First-quarter GDP hit an annualized rate of 6.4%.