Indices recover from day's lows; Nifty ends above 17,700; IT stocks worst-hit

The domestic equities recovered from the day's low but still slipped nearly a per cent on April 17, thus snapping a nine-day gaining streak. At close, the S&P BSE Sensex stood at 59,910.75, down 520 points, or 0.86 per cent while the Nifty50 ended the session at 17,702.35, down 126 points, or 0.70 per cent.

Technology stocks bled the most during the session. The S&P BSE Information Technology index dropped nearly 5 per cent to 26,887.72 points while the S&P BSE Teck settled at 12,281.65 levels, down 4.56 per cent. During the session, Infosys nosedived over 12 per cent and hit a 52-week low of Rs 1,219 after Q4 numbers disappointed D-Street. Zee Business Managing Editor Anil Singhvi said the IT major's results were "weak with poor guidance". He sees support for INFY futures emerging at Rs 1,200-1,245-odd levels. The stock eventually settled at Rs 1,258.10, down over 9 per cent on the BSE. 

That apart, Wipro, too, hit a 52-week low during the session while Tech Mahindra ended over 5 per cent lower at Rs 1,029.75 after brokerage Citi downgraded the stock to 'Sell' with a target price of Rs 955. 

HDFC Bank and HDFC also slipped over 1.5 per cent. HDFC Bank reported a mixed set of numbers for the quarter ended March 31, 2023. 

“The much anticipated profit-taking came to the fore as technology stocks led the correction that saw the Sensex slump below the psychological 60,000 mark. The real damage was done by the frontline IT stocks with Infosys coming under severe hammering after its corporate earnings failed to meet street estimates. Besides disappointing results, worries of weak IT spending by multinational giants on gloomy economic conditions and recessionary fears have weighed heavily on the sector over the past few months," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

On the daily charts, the Nifty has formed a bar-reversal candlestick formation, indicating time-based correction till the market is not crossing 17,870 levels. For the bulls, 17,800-17,870 would act as immediate resistance zones while 17,600-17,500 would act as key support zones. Fresh buying momentum could be seen only above the levels of 17,870, Chouhan added.

Of 30 constituents, 14 ended in the red while the rest 16 closed in the positive territory. ITC hit an all-time of Rs 401.95 intraday. It ended at Rs 400.20, up over 1 per cent.

Sectorally, oil and gas stocks rallied the most. The S&P BSE OIL & GAS ended at 17,919.54, up 1.19 per cent.

India VIX also cooled off from the day's high. It stood at 12.29 levels, up 3.21 per cent.

Market Statistics

As many as 139 stocks hit a 52-week high on the BSE while 55 scrips hit a 52-week low. That apart, 309 stocks hit their upper circuits in today's session and 164 touched their lower circuits. Market breadth was; however, still in favour of bulls as of 3,768 stocks traded on the BSE today, 1,852 advanced and 1,735 declined while 181 scrips remained unchanged.

Broader market

The second-rung stocks outperformed the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index gained 0.56 per cent to 24,858.39 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled at 28,186.48, up 0.13 per cent.

Global markets

European stocks rose to their highest in over a year on Monday just as U.S. earnings season gets into full swing this week and a raft of Chinese data is due to offer insight into how quickly the world's second-largest economy is recovering. The pan-European STOXX 600 index touched a fresh 14-month high and was last up 0.14 per cent, while the blue-chip STOXX50 index hit a new 22-year peak and US stock futures pointed to a flat to slightly positive open on Wall Street.

World shares and Japan's Nikkei traded flat, Reuters reported.

In China, blue chips added 1.4 per cent ahead of data on retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product due on Tuesday, where analysts suspect the risks are for an upside surprise given recent strength in trade.