Sensex Slips 778 Points, Nifty Ends Near 16,600; Coal India & HDFC Life Rally 7%

Wed, 2 Mar Closing

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Indian share markets witnessed negative trading activity throughout the day today and ended on a weak note.

Benchmark indices staged a late recovery but still ended deep in the red as the Russia-Ukraine conflict entered its 7th day.

Besides, soaring Brent crude prices (above US$110 a barrel now) and weak global cues dented sentiment.

The BSE Sensex plummeted over 1,200 points intra-day but recouped some of the losses after reports suggested Russia was ready to resume talks with Ukraine tonight.

The NSE Nifty, too, bounced back from its intra-day low of 16,479 to close at 16,606.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 778 points (down 1.4%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 188 points (down 1.1%).

Coal India and HDFC Life Insurance were among the top gainers today.

Maruti Suzuki and Dr. Reddy's Lab, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 16,613, down by 96 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index ended down by 0.2% and 0.1%, respectively.

Sectoral indices ended on a mixed note with stocks in the banking sector, auto sector and finance sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

Metal stocks, on the other hand, witnessed buying interest.

Shares of Adani Transmission and Vedanta 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 1.8% and 0.1%, respectively. The Nikkei ended down by 1.7% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a weak note today with the Dow Futures trading down by 231 points.

The rupee is trading at 75.70 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading down by 0.1% at Rs 51,770 per 10 grams.

Speaking of stock markets, India's #1 trader Vijay Bhambwani talks about Nifty ETFs and why they are his top investing idea amid correction in the markets, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

Tune in to the video below to find out more:

In news from the mining sector, Coal India was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Coal India rose as much as 10% today after the company reported its monthly provisional offtake and production numbers for February.

The stock has been gaining for the last three days and has risen nearly 19% during the period.

Coal production for February grew 4% year on year (YoY) while production during April-February was up 5% YoY.

Meanwhile, growth in offtake for the reporting month was 12% YoY and for April-February nearly 17% YoY.

The coal major had reported a near 48% rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 45.6 bn for the quarter ended December, on the back of higher revenue from operations.

The PSU's consolidated net profit was at Rs 30.9 bn in the year-ago period.

The consolidated revenue from operations during October-December had increased to Rs 284.3 bn from Rs 236.9 bn in the year-ago period.

Coal India is an Indian government-owned coal mining and refining corporation. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Coal, Government of India headquartered in Kolkata. It is the largest coal-producing company in the world

Coal India share price ended the day up by 9.6% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the FMCG sector...

FMCG Volumes Dip 2.6% in December quarter

After five quarters of growth, volumes of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) fell 2.6% year on year (YoY) in the December quarter with demand for packaged goods dipping sharply in India's villages, according to industry data.

Higher inflation levels during 2021 have led to three consecutive quarters with double-digit price increases resulting in consumption slowdown in urban markets and consumption de-growth in rural markets.

This slowdown comes after rural markets led demand for FMCG companies a few months into the onset of the pandemic. Inflation is hurting rural households.

Categories like staples or OTC have seen high price increase in last two quarters, leading to larger price growth in rural markets and, hence impacting the volumes

Consumers in rural India are going back to small pack sizes to counter price increases.

However, the industry reported a 9.6% growth in value terms on account of successive price hikes taken by large fast moving consumer goods companies. For the full year, the FMCG industry reported a smart 17.5% growth, albeit led by price increases.

The December quarter saw a 9.6% YoY value growth for FMCG in India primarily based on the double digit increase in prices for three successive quarters.

Consistent inflation across edible oils and staples is hurting household budgets. As a result, consumers are spending less on non-food categories such as home and personal care.

Speaking of the FMCG sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the performance of BSE Sensex and BSE FMCG index since 2009:

While the Sensex has offered 393% returns since 2009, the BSE FMCG index has gone up a staggering 532% returns over the same period.

Richa Agarwal, Senior Research Analyst at Equitymaster, and Editor of the smallcap service, Hidden Treasure, believes this outperformance could continue for many years.

As per Richa, with a rising population and standards of living, Indian's consumption demand for FMCG products will skyrocket over the coming years.

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

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