Stock Market HIGHLIGHTS: Sensex ends 304 points lower, Nifty50 slips below 18,000 dragged by financial stocks; Bajaj Finance tanks 7%
Stock Market HIGHLIGHTS: Indian equity benchmarks S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 finished a choppy session in the red on Thursday, after a warning from the Fed against bets on interest rate cuts this year. The 30-scrip index finished with a loss of 304.2 points or 0.5 percent at 60,353.3, having gyrated within a range of more than 800 points around the flatline during the session. The Nifty50 settled at 17,992.2, down 50.8 points or 0.3 percent from its previous close after broadly moving within the 17,850-18,150 band in intraday trade. Losses in financial shares -- primarily the Bajaj twins and HDFC Bank -- pulled the market lower though gains in FMCG and auto stocks lent some support.
Here are 10 key things to know about the January 5 session:
1) A total of 17 stocks in the Nifty50 basket finished lower. Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were the top laggards, ending 7.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent lower respectively. ICICI Bank, Infosys, Titan, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, IndusInd, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and TCS were some of the other blue-chip laggards, closing between 0.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent lower. On the other hand, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, ITC, HUL, JSW Steel, Britannia, NTPC and Hero MotoCorp -- rising between 1.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent for the day -- were the top gainers.
2) ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Infosys were the biggest drags on both headline indices. The three accounted for a loss of more than 250 points in the 30-scrip gauge.
3) The Financial Services, the Nifty Bank and the Nifty Private Bank were the worst hit among NSE's sectoral indices, finishing around one per cent each.
4) On the flipside, the Nifty FMCG was the top gainer thanks to gains in heavyweights such as ITC, HUL, Britannia and Marico.
5) Broader indices managed to return to the green by the end of the day. The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.5 percent.
6) Overall market breadth was largely neutral, as 1,696 stocks rose and 1,777 fell at the close on BSE.
7) Crude oil recovered some ground on Thursday, following the previous day's fall of more than $4 a barrel, supported by the shutdown of a US fuel pipeline. Brent crude oil futures jumped as much as 2.7 per cent to almost $80 a barrel, having slumped to $77.8 a barrel the previous day.
8) The rupee recovered by 24 paise or 0.3 per cent to settle at 82.56 against the US dollar.
9) European shares began the day in the red amid selling pressure in pharma stocks, with the UK's FTSE 100 trading down 0.3 percent at the last count. France's CAC and Germany's DAX were down 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1 percent, suggesting a mildly positive start ahead on Wall Street.
10) Earlier in the day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed up 0.4 percent.
Catch all the LIVE action from the stock market here. For all other news related to business, economy, sports, tech, auto and others visit Zeebiz.com.
Stock Market HIGHLIGHTS: Indian equity benchmarks S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 finished a choppy session in the red on Thursday, after a warning from the Fed against bets on interest rate cuts this year. The 30-scrip index finished with a loss of 304.2 points or 0.5 percent at 60,353.3, having gyrated within a range of more than 800 points around the flatline during the session. The Nifty50 settled at 17,992.2, down 50.8 points or 0.3 percent from its previous close after broadly moving within the 17,850-18,150 band in intraday trade. Losses in financial shares -- primarily the Bajaj twins and HDFC Bank -- pulled the market lower though gains in FMCG and auto stocks lent some support.
Here are 10 key things to know about the January 5 session:
1) A total of 17 stocks in the Nifty50 basket finished lower. Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were the top laggards, ending 7.2 per cent and 5.2 per cent lower respectively. ICICI Bank, Infosys, Titan, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, Tech Mahindra, Wipro, IndusInd, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and TCS were some of the other blue-chip laggards, closing between 0.4 per cent and 2.3 per cent lower. On the other hand, Cipla, Bajaj Auto, ITC, HUL, JSW Steel, Britannia, NTPC and Hero MotoCorp -- rising between 1.8 per cent and 2.2 per cent for the day -- were the top gainers.
2) ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Infosys were the biggest drags on both headline indices. The three accounted for a loss of more than 250 points in the 30-scrip gauge.
3) The Financial Services, the Nifty Bank and the Nifty Private Bank were the worst hit among NSE's sectoral indices, finishing around one per cent each.
4) On the flipside, the Nifty FMCG was the top gainer thanks to gains in heavyweights such as ITC, HUL, Britannia and Marico.
5) Broader indices managed to return to the green by the end of the day. The Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.5 percent.
6) Overall market breadth was largely neutral, as 1,696 stocks rose and 1,777 fell at the close on BSE.
7) Crude oil recovered some ground on Thursday, following the previous day's fall of more than $4 a barrel, supported by the shutdown of a US fuel pipeline. Brent crude oil futures jumped as much as 2.7 per cent to almost $80 a barrel, having slumped to $77.8 a barrel the previous day.
8) The rupee recovered by 24 paise or 0.3 per cent to settle at 82.56 against the US dollar.
9) European shares began the day in the red amid selling pressure in pharma stocks, with the UK's FTSE 100 trading down 0.3 percent at the last count. France's CAC and Germany's DAX were down 0.3 per cent and 0.2 per cent respectively. S&P 500 futures edged up 0.1 percent, suggesting a mildly positive start ahead on Wall Street.
10) Earlier in the day, MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8 percent. Japan's Nikkei 225 climbed up 0.4 percent.
Catch all the LIVE action from the stock market here. For all other news related to business, economy, sports, tech, auto and others visit Zeebiz.com.
Latest Updates
Closing Bell: Sensex down 304 points, Nifty 8 points shy of 18,000 as market extends losses to second straight day
Financial, IT sectors continue to weigh on market
The Nifty Financial Services is the worst hit among NSE's sectoral indices. Here's what other sectoral gauges look like 10 minutes before the closing bell:
| Index | Change (%) |
| NIFTY FINANCIAL SERVICES | -1.17 |
| NIFTY BANK | -0.8 |
| NIFTY PRIVATE BANK | -0.75 |
| NIFTY IT | -0.43 |
| NIFTY CONSUMER DURABLES | -0.21 |
| NIFTY REALTY | 0.19 |
| NIFTY PSU BANK | 0.24 |
| NIFTY MEDIA | 0.29 |
| NIFTY METAL | 0.87 |
| NIFTY HEALTHCARE INDEX | 0.98 |
| NIFTY PHARMA | 1.07 |
| NIFTY AUTO | 1.19 |
| NIFTY FMCG | 1.6 |
| NIFTY OIL & GAS | 1.6 |
Bajaj twins, ICICI Bank, Infosys, HDFC Bank continue to put pressure on Sensex
The four together account for almost 400 points in the fall in the 30-scrip index.
On the other hand, gains in ITC, HUL and L&T lend some support.
Anil Singhvi shares his pick of the year 2023
Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi's stock pick of 2023 is MTAR Technologies. Singhvi believes the MTAR Technologies stock can double investors' money in the long term.
Here's what has brought the MTAR stock to his radar.
IT Q3 Results Preview: TCS, Infosys, Wipro to report results next week
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) -- India's largest IT company -- is all set to kick off the corporate earnings next week by reporting its financial results for the October-December quarter on January 9. Other IT majors Wipro, Infosys and HCL Tech will also report their quarterly numbers during the course of the week.
Here's what analysts expect from the IT sector in the forthcoming earnings season. (Read more on what to expect from IT earnings)
Tata Power shares drop 30% from 52-week high; here's what Morgan Stanley suggests
Tata Power shares are flat amid choppy trade in the overall market, quoting barely in the green at Rs 209 apiece on NSE. The stock has moved sideways for the past few months, and is available at a 30 per cent discount to its 52-week high of Rs 298.1 (April 7, 2022).
Morgan Stanley has maintained an 'underweight' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 189. (Read more on Tata Power shares)
ITC shares hold on to the green with large volumes
The stock of the cigarettes-to-hotels conglomerate, ITC, is up by Rs 4.6 or 1.4 percent at Rs 331.7 apiece on BSE, having risen as much as two percent earlier in the day.
As many as 3.6 lakh ITC shares have changed hands so far in today's session as against a daily average of 3.1 lakh in the past two weeks, according to exchange data.
CLSA has maintained an 'accumulate' call on ITC with a target price of Rs 375 apiece -- which implies upside potential of 14.6 percent from Wednesday's closing price. 
BSE 500 breadth largely neutral with a negative bias
A total of 226 stocks trade higher in the 500-scrip pack whereas 266 struggle below the flatline at this hour.
Engineers India, Sundaram Fasteners, CEAT, Max Financial, Apollo Tyres top BSE 500 gainers
Besides the Bajaj twins, some of the top laggards in the broadest basket on the bourse are Cholamandalam Investment, IRB Infra, Gujarat Pipavav and General Insurance Corp (GIC).
Bajaj twins continue to bleed
Bajaj Finance shares are down 7.4 per cent at Rs 6,090 apiece on BSE, having plummeted as much as 8.2 percent earlier in the day.
Bajaj Finserv is quiting at Rs 1,470 apiece on the bourses, down five percent from its previous close and not far from its intraday low of Rs 1,457.
What brokerages say on Bajaj Finance
Jefferies has maintained a 'hold' call on Bajaj Finance with a target price of Rs 8,160.
Macquarie has continued with its 'underperform' rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 5,275.
CLSA recomments a 'sell' on Bajaj Finance with a target price of Rs 6,000.
Morgan Stanley has retained its 'overweight' call on the stock with a target price of Rs 8,900. (Read more on what brokerages make of Bajaj Finance)
Sensex slumps over 500 points from day's high, Nifty50 cracks below 18,000
The Sensex slides all the way to 60,346.9, having lost 530.1 points from its intraday high of 60,877.1. The Nifty50 gives up the 18,000 mark to hit 17,973.4 on the downside, having shed almost 150 points from its strongest level of the day.
ITC, HUL, L&T, M&M, Britannia top boosts for Nifty
On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank are the biggest drags. Here's the heatmap:
Fed doesn't want to take inflation lightly: Samco Securities' Apurva Sheth
Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives at Samco Securities, believes the key takeaway from minutes of the Fed's December meeting is that the US central bank does not want to take inflation lightly.
"Fed Chair Jerome Powell was caught on the wrong foot when he called inflation ‘transitory’ in 2021. The Fed is once bitten, twice shy. They want to err on the side of caution and change gears only once they see inflation hitting their target. Clearly, they don’t want to trap themselves in a box once again," he says.
Market breadth largely neutral with a positive bias
A total of 1,746 stocks on BSE are up and 1,509 down at this hour.
Positive momentum in gold: Kotak Securities' Ravindra Rao
Ravindra Rao, VP-Head Commodity Research at Kotak Securities, believes the yellow metal will continue to take cues from US economic data and movement in the US dollar.
“The recent breakout in gold above $1,825/oz has given an edge to the bulls, who are now targeting $1,884/oz, which is the June 2022 high. The major factor that has pushed gold higher is the retreat in the US dollar from the highs amid the Fed’s stance of slowing the pace of interest rate hikes. Minutes for the December FOMC meeting revealed the US central bank's concerns on inflation and that interest rates might remain higher for longer time although the pace might drop," he says.
Gold futures hold Rs 55,800/10 gms mark
Gold futures edge higher by Rs 60 or 0.1 percent to Rs 55,827 per 10 grams, having climbed to as high as Rs 55,920 per 10 grams earlier in the day.
Silver futures, however, decline by Rs 48 or 0.1 percent to Rs 69,270. The white metal has moved within a Rs 68,973-69,347 range in intraday trade so far on Thursday.
