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domestic equity indices tumbled on Tuesday, tracking weak cues from other Asian stock markets.

After witnessing consolidation for pervious two days & in early trade today benchmark indices ended near day’s high propelled by index heavyweights. Hindalco Industries, Reliance Industries, Sun Pharma, Adani Ports and GAIL were among major gainers on the Nifty, while losers were Eicher Motors, Titan Company, NTPC, L&T and Tata Motors.

At close, Sensex was up 222 points or 0.43% at 51,531, and the Nifty was up 66 points or 0.44% at 15,173.

On the sectoral front, Nifty Metal was up over 1%, likewise Nifty FMCG, Nifty IT, & Nifty Pharma indices gained between 0.19% to 0.81%. Whereas Nifty PSU Bank index declined over 1%, Nifty Auto index fell 0.4%  and the Nifty Realty closed the day’s trade 0.24% lower. Volatility in the market also cooled a bit as India VIX fell by 3.78% to end at levels of 23.

In the broader markets, smallcap stocks were leading from the front. The S&P BSE SmallCap index outperformed today with 1.06% gain on the BSE while the S&P BSE MidCap index settled 0.45% higher. And shares of Magma Fincorp, Route Mobile & Affle India were locked their respective upper limits.

Buyers outnumbered sellers. On the BSE, 1,741 shares rose and 1,246 shares fell. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

“After the initial downtick, the benchmark recovered in no time and remained range-bound thereafter…The mixed trend continued on the sectoral front as Capital Goods, Consumer Goods and Auto ended with losses whereas Oil & Gas, Metal and Telecom ended with gains. We reiterate our bullish view on markets. However, traders should maintain extra caution in the selection of stocks now. Participants would be actively tracking key macroeconomic data like IIP, CPI and WPI data for cues on Friday,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking.

Earnings Impact:

Coal India fell 0.72% to Rs 137.30 after the PSU miner posted a 21.4% decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 3084.1 crore on 2.1% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 23,686.03 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Happiest Minds Technologies jumped 4.77% to Rs 371.80 after the company’s consolidated net profit rose 23.7% to Rs 42.15 crore on 5.47% increase in revenue to Rs 192.84 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q2 September 2020. The company’s consolidated net profit has grown by 97% and revenue has risen by 12.4% in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The IT company revenue in dollars grew by 6% quarter on quarter to $26.2 million in Q3 FY21 over Q2 FY21.

Titan Company fell 2.42% to Rs 1525.50. The company posted a 10.85% decline in standalone net profit to Rs 419 crore on 17.64% rise in total income to Rs 7,324 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20.

Bata said it also continued to strengthen its brick and mortar presence in tier 3 & 4 cities by opening new franchise stores across the country, with 221 Franchise stores at the end Dec 2020.

Indraprastha Gas rose 2.13% to Rs 568.60. On a consolidated basis, the company’s net profit jumped 28.4% to Rs 381.83 crore on 13.1% fall in net sales at Rs 1446.16 crore in Q3 December 2020 over Q3 December 2019.

MRF dropped 7.33% to Rs 89900. On a consolidated basis, the tyre maker’s net profit zoomed 115.7% to Rs 520.54 crore on 13.8% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 4,641.60 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Profit before tax surged 86.4% to Rs 690.31 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Current tax expense jumped 62.48% to Rs 166.53 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The company declared a second interim dividend of Rs 3 per share. The record date is fixed on 19 February 2021.

Economy:

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings said that India’s budget, presented by the government on 1 February 2021, points to a loosening of fiscal policy to support the country’s ongoing economic recovery from the pandemic and will consequently lead to a rise in public debt.

The debt/GDP trajectory is core to our sovereign rating assessment, meaning higher deficits and a slower consolidation path will make India’s medium-term growth outlook take on a more critical role in our analysis, Fitch Ratings said.

We now expect public debt/GDP to rise above 90% of GDP over the next five years, based on the revised budget targets and with our other previous rating assumptions remaining unchanged. However, recent reforms and policy measures, including those announced in the budget, could also influence our growth expectations and, thus, our debt trajectory forecasts, it added.

Meanwhile, for the third and fourth quarters, SBI Research on Wednesday revised its contraction forecast for the current fiscal year to 7%. The agency had earlier forecast a 7.4% contraction in 2020-21 GDP numbers.

Global markets

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Thursday. Markets in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan were closed for holidays.

In US, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq edged slightly lower on Wednesday as big tech stocks slid amid an ongoing rotation of portfolio holdings that gave a boost to energy shares and kept the overall market near record highs. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both opened at record highs but soon drifted lower, while the Dow set a new peak during the session.

(With inputs from Capital Market – Live News)