Key equity benchmarks slumped in mid-afternoon trade as banks stocks corrected sharply. At 14:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 920.56 points or 1.90% to 47,427.03. The Nifty 50 index lost 259.85 points or 1.82% to 13,979.05. The broader indices declined lesser than the benchmarks. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.37%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.68%. Sellers outnumbered buyers. On the BSE, 922 shares rose and 1909 shares fell. A total of 148 shares were unchanged. Numbers to Track: In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee depreciated to 72.8125 compared with its previous closing of 72.94. The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper fell to 5.948% from its previous closing of 5.954%. MCX Gold futures for 5 February 2021 settlement fell 0.63% to Rs 48,835. The US Dollar index (DXY), which tracks the greenback's value against a basket of currencies, rose 0.12% to 90.28. In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2021 settlement rose 50 cents to $56.41 a barrel. The contract added 0.05% or 3 cents to settle at $55.91 in the previous trading session. Buzzing Index: The Nifty Bank fell 2.93% to 30,283.05. The index had gained 0.10% to 31,198.40. Axis Bank (down 4.24%), IndusInd Bank (down 3.79%), ICICI Bank (down 3.15%), HDFC Bank (down 3.12%), Bank of Baroda (down 2.3%), SBI (down 2.22%), Punjab National Bank (down 2.2%), Bandhan Bank (down 1.41%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 1.36%), Federal Bank (down 1.12%), RBL Bank (down 0.72%) and IDFC First Bank (down 0.42%) slumped. Stocks in Spotlight: Jyothy Labs fell 2.54% to Rs 153.65. On a consolidated basis, the company reported 18.2% jump in net profit to Rs 53.2 crore on 13.3% rise in revenue from operations to Rs 477 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. The company's FMCG sales grew by 15.1% while volume grew by 15%. The revival of the consumer sentiment is reflecting in company's performance across our brand portfolio. The company said that it had been focussing on innovative measures to cater to consumer demands and strengthening distribution led by digital technology across channels. Additionally, the company's strategic investments in increasing advertisement spends to strengthen the core brands backed by cost rationalisation and product innovation have been at the forefront of driving growth. During the quarter, the company has witnessed demand acceleration in the General Trade and Ecommerce Platform with gradual recovery in Modern Trade stores ('MT') and Canteen Stores Department ('CSD') operations. The growth during the quarter was aided by strong rural demand and improving urban consumption trends. Hindustan Zinc slipped 1.51% to Rs 264 after the company said its chief financial officer (CFO), Swayam Saurabh, has resigned from his post to pursue career outside the group. Agro Tech Foods fell 1.98% to Rs 798.35. The company said that it had successfully restarted the commercial production and operations at its plant situated at Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. This plant produces tortilla chips, ready to eat popcorn, extruded snacks and centre filled cereal snacks etc.,” it added. Powered by Capital Market - Live News |