Sensex holds 50,000-mark; Nifty below 15,100

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After rallying almost 3% in the last three trading sessions and adding Rs 4.44 lakh crore to investors wealth benchmark Indian equity indices took a breather on Wednesday as Asian stocks tracked U.S. declines Wednesday as concern about faster inflation shadows the economic recovery from the pandemic. In opening trades, Sensex was down 149 points or 0.30% at 50,043 and the broader market index Nifty 50 was at 15,058 losing 49 points or 0.33%.

PowerGrid, UltraTech Cement, L&T, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s were the top gainers on the Sensex. On the downside, M&M, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, ONGC & Bajaj FinServ tanked up to 1.84%.  

On the sectoral front, Nifty Realty jumped 1.42% followed by the Nifty Pharma index rose 0.39%, Nifty Metal index was up 0.29% while Nifty IT & Nifty FMCG indices were trading with marginal gains of 0.05% & 0.03% respectively. On the contrary, the Nifty Auto index fell 1.01% and Nifty Bank lost 0.50%.

The broader market outperformed benchmark indices as BSE MidCap & BSE SmallCap rose 0.72% and 0.65% respectively. The market breadth also favoured the bulls as 1,196 shares advanced versus 534 stocks declined and 518 scrips remained unchanged.

Earnings today:

Indian Oil Corporation, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Clariant Chemicals, Endurance Technologies, Gravita India, Heritage Foods, Indo Rama Synthetics, Ineos Styrolution India, JK Tyre & Industries, Kaya, Mangal Credit and Fincorp, Man Infraconstruction, MAS Financial Services, Morarjee Textiles, Prism Johnson, Rane Engine Valve, RS Software India, SML Isuzu, Shriram Asset Management, Tanla Platforms, TCI Express, TD Power Systems, Zuari Agro Chemicals amongst others will release quarterly earnings on May 19.

Stocks in spotlight:

On a consolidated basis, Tata Motors reported net loss of Rs 7,605.40 crore in Q4 FY21 lower than net loss of Rs 9,894.25 crore in Q4 FY20. Total revenue from operations during the quarter increased 41.8% year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 88,627.90 crore in Q4 FY21.

During the period ended March 2020, an exceptional charge of Rs 14,994.30 crore was recognized under the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)’s reimagine strategy. It comprised of asset write-downs of Rs 9,606.11 crore in relation to models cancelled and restructuring costs of Rs 5,388.19 crore.

Shares of Axis Bank will be in focus. The Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) proposes to sell up to 3.60 crore equity shares of Axis Bank at a floor price of Rs 680 per share. The offer for sale will open on 19 May for non-retail investors and on 20 May for retail investors with an option to additionally sell 2.20 crore equity shares.

Larsen & Toubro International FZE (LTIFZE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement to purchase, 6.35% stake in Help Lightning INC., a Delaware Corporation.

On a consolidated basis, Torrent Pharmaceuticals’ net profit rose 3.18% to Rs 324 crore on 0.15% increase in net sales to Rs 1,915 crore in Q4 March 2021 over Q4 March 2020.

JSW Hydro Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of JSW Energy, has raised US$ 707 million by allotment of US$ denominated senior secured notes.

Laxmi Organic Industries said its board of directors has approved a proposal to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) company in the United States. The WOS will be engaged in the trading of chemical products manufactured by the company.

Global markets:

Overseas, Asian stocks are trading lower on Wednesday, with some markets in the region closed for holidays. Markets in Hong Kong and South Korea are closed on Wednesday for holidays.

Meanwhile, China has banned financial institutions and payment companies from providing services related to cryptocurrency transactions and warned investors against speculative crypto trading.

Under the ban, such institutions, including banks and online payments channels, must not offer clients any service involving cryptocurrencies, such as registration, trading, clearing and settlement.

U.S. stock indexes wiped out earlier gains and closed at their session lows on Tuesday as Big Tech stocks reversed lower, while data showing housing starts dropped sharply last month also weighed on sentiment.

Housing starts tumbled 9.5% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.569 million units last month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday.