Stock market update: Nifty near 17,400, Sensex gains 150 points; Nestle India sees 20% decline in profit in q4

The domestic equity market was hovering around its opening levels amid mixed global cues. The broader Nifty50 was seen attempting 17,400, while the Sensex was trading with over 150 points gain in the afternoon trade.  

Nifty Bank gave up 37,800 as the 12-share index declined by over 150 points, while Nifty mid cap index was up 0.25% and small cap was trading lower by 0.30%. Besides, healthcare, pharma, were seen under some pressure as the indices traded marginally lower. However, metal, oil & gas and FMCG were trading with strength. 

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

Tata Consumer, HDFC Ltd, Hindalco, ONGC, Reliance Indian Limited, L&T, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and Tata Steel were among top gainers.  

ICICI Bank, Ultratech cement, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Nestle India, TCS, Maruti, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finserv declined the most on the two indices.  

Meanwhile, FMCG major Nestle India Ltd on Thursday reported a 20 per cent decline in its net profit at Rs 386.66 crore for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2021.  

The company, which follows a January-December financial year, had posted a profit of Rs 483.31 crore in the same period a year ago, Nestle India said in a regulatory filing.  

However, its revenue from operations was up 8.93 per cent to Rs 3,739.32 crore during the period under review, as against Rs 3,432.58 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, the company said. 

Meanwhile, state-owned Punjab & Sind Bank (PSB) on Thursday said its board has given approval to raise equity capital worth Rs 4,600 crore by issuing preference shares to the government.

The decision was taken at the board meeting held on February 17, 2022, the bank said in a regulatory filing.

The board of directors has approved to offer, issue, create and allot equity shares up to Rs 4,600 crore to the government by way of preferential issue of equity shares, the bank said.

In a related development, Investigation wing of Income Tax Department conducted a raid and searches at the house of Chitra Ramkrishna, former MD & CEO of the NSE, on Thursday.  The searches at the house of Ramkrishna were related to alleged sharing of confidential information with a third person.