Indian share markets witnessed negative trading activity throughout the day today and ended on a weak note.
Benchmark indices dropped 1% today after the US Federal Reserve indicated it is likely to raise US interest rates in March, and reaffirmed plans to end its bond purchases that month before launching a significant reduction in its asset holdings.
The Sensex started on a weak footing, sliding as much as 1,419 points intra-day to a low of 56,439. However, fag-end buying in heavyweights helped the index recoup some of the losses.
The Nifty50 index recovered from a low of 16,867 during the second half of the session.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 581 points (down 1%).
Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 168 points (down 1%).
Axis Bank and State Bank of India were among the top gainers today.
HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.
The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,153, up by 44 points, at the time of writing.
The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended down by 1.3% and 0.8%, respectively.
Sectoral indices ended on a negative note with stocks in the IT sector, consumer durables sector and healthcare sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.
Banking stocks, on the other hand, witnessed buying interest.
Shares of Bharat Dynamics and Raymond hit their respective 52-week highs today.
Asian stock markets ended on a negative note today.
The Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite ended down by 2% and 1.8%, respectively. The Nikkei ended down by 3.1% in today's session.
US stock futures are trading on a flat note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 19 points.
The rupee is trading at 75.07 against the US$.
Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 1.2% at Rs 48,290 per 10 grams.
Speaking of stock markets, in his latest video, Research Analyst Aditya Vora explains what you should do when buy and hold doesn't work.
As per Aditya, if you think Buy and Hold 'Forever' works...it's time to rethink your investment strategy. Want to know why? Tune in to the below video to find out.
In news from the banking sector, Canara Bank was among the top buzzing stocks today.
Canara Bank's net profit rose by 115.8% year on year (YoY) at Rs 15 bn for the third quarter ended December 2021 on steady growth in net interest income (NII) and dip in provisions.
The net profit was Rs 7 bn in the third quarter of the fiscal 2022and Rs 13.3 bn in the previous quarter of the same year.
The bank's NII grew by 14.1% to Rs 69.5 bn in quarter three of 2022 against Rs 60.9 bn during the same quarter.
Public sector lender's net interest margin was flat at 2.8% in December quarter from 2.8% in the same quarter last year.
The non-interest income fell by 13% on YoY basis to Rs 36.1 bn in the same quarter from Rs 41.5 bn in the last year's December quarter.
The provisions and contingencies fell sharply to Rs 22.4 bn in the third quarter of the fiscal 2022 from Rs 42.1 bn in the same period last year.
The lender's provisions for non-performing assets rose 1.81 per cent at Rs 2,705 crore in Q3FY22 from Rs 2,657 crore in Q3FY21. Provisions were also up from Rs 2,678 crore in Q2FY22.
Its gross non performing assets (NPAs) inched up to 7.8% in December 2021 from 7.5% in the year ago period.
The net NPAs rose to 2.3% in December 2021 from 2.6% a year ago.
The bank's capital adequacy ratio stood at 14.8% in December 2021, up from 13.7% in December 2020.
Canara Bank share price ended the day up by 8.8% on the BSE.
Moving on to news from the retailing sector...
Future Enterprises (FEL) has agreed to sell a 25% stake in its general insurance joint venture, Future Generali India Insurance Company (FGIICL) to its partner Generali Participations Netherlands for cash worth Rs 12.5 bn. FEL has received offers from other companies looking to buy out its remaining 24.91% stake.
It expects to exit the holding in a timely manner to meet commitment under the one-time restructuring plan implemented by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). An additional consideration is also linked to the date of closing of the transaction, an exchange release said.
Generali also has the option to buy out FEL's remaining interest in the insurance company - either directly or through a nominee. The valuation would be subject to regulatory approvals.
Generali has also acquired the 16% stake owned by Industrial Investment Trust in the life insurance joint venture and received approval from the competition watchdog, the Competition Commission of India.
Earlier, Generali had agreed to invest Rs 3.3 bn in tranches in the insurance joint venture. Once these transactions go through, Generali will hold a majority and controlling stake of 74% in the insurance company.
Consequently, it will have increased board nomination rights, information rights, and a call option on the remaining stake of Future Enterprises.
FEL also is exploring options for the sale of its 33.3% interest in FGIICL, as per a press release. Currently, FEL holds a direct and indirect stake of 49% in the JV.
Future Enterprises share price ended the day up by 0.9% on the BSE.
Speaking of stocks, here's a pattern that if you see, you must sell your position. After all, exits are more important than entries.
In the chart below, we can see the head and shoulder pattern - the stock goes up, makes a high, falls a little bit, goes up to a higher high, does not make a higher low, rallies again, fails to make a new high, and then starts to break down.
This usually happens in a situation where a stock or index has typically been in a bull trend for a while. Spotting this correctly can help you save money.
If you're interested in trading and want to know how you can use this pattern, you can read about it in one of the editions of Profit Hunter here: It's When You Sell that Counts
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