Sensex, Nifty Continue Downtrend to End Lower for 4th Day; Metal & IT Stocks Drag

Fri, 22 Oct Closing

   Previous Close   

   Pre-Open   

   SGX Nifty   

   09:30 am   

   12:30 pm   

After opening the day on a positive note, Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day today and ended lower.

Benchmark indices finished lower for the fourth straight session amid volatility and weakness in shares of ITC, Tata Steel and Infosys.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 102 points (down 0.2%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 63 points (down 0.4%).

HDFC and Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers today.

Hindalco and Coal India, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 18,139, down by 64 points, at the time of writing.

The BSE MidCap index and the BSE SmallCap index ended down by 1% and 1.2%, respectively.

Sectoral indices ended on a negative note with stocks in the metal sector, IT sector and healthcare sector witnessing most of the selling pressure.

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

Shares of HDFC and Shriram Transport hit their respective 52-week highs today.

Asian stock markets ended on a mixed note today.

The Hang Seng ended up by 0.4%, while the Shanghai Composite ended down by 0.3%. The Nikkei ended up by 0.3% in today's session.

US stock futures are trading on a flat note today with the Dow Futures trading up by 12 points.

The rupee is trading at 74.89 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading up by 0.7% at Rs 47,721 per 10 grams.

Speaking of the stock markets, India's #1 trader, Vijay Bhambwani talks about how to know if your stock will fall, in his latest video for Fast Profits Daily.

Tune in to the video below to find out more:

In news from the pharma sector, Biocon was among the top buzzing stocks today.

Shares of Biocon dipped over 7% after the company's net profit declined 18% for the second quarter ended September 2021.

Biotechnology major Biocon said its consolidated net profit declined to Rs 1.4 bn for the second quarter.

The Bengaluru-based company had reported a net profit of Rs 1.7 bn in the July-September quarter of the previous fiscal.

Revenue from operations, however, increased 5% in the second quarter to Rs 18.4 bn from Rs 17.5 bn in the year ago period.

The company said it has made provisions under exceptional item regarding modification of the optionally convertible debentures of a PE investment in Biocon Biologics, and reversal of services export incentive scheme (SEIS) claims relating to a prior period.

It added that net profit for the second quarter, before such exceptional items, stood at Rs 1.9 bn, up 11% from the year ago period.

Biocon's Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw stated,

• With the waning pandemic and improvements in supply chain conditions, I believe all three business segments, generics, biosimilars and research services, are well positioned for sustained growth in the second half of the financial year 2022.

The company noted that its entry into vaccines and novel antibodies for infectious diseases, which are a natural adjacency to its biosimilars business, will be a future growth driver for its subsidiary Biocon Biologics.

Biocon Biologics and Serum Institute Life Sciences (SILS) have entered into a strategic alliance that provides Biocon Biologics an asset light and accelerated entry into the vaccines segment.

Biocon share price ended the day down by 6% on the BSE.

Moving on to news from the telecom sector...

Bharti Airtel's Rights Issue Receives Good Response

Bharti Airtel's Rs 210 bn rights issue, which was open between 5 October and 21 October 2021, was fully subscribed. The shares were issued at a price of Rs 535 per share, including face value of Rs 5 per share and a premium of Rs 530 per share. In a rights issue, a company offers rights to its existing shareholders to buy additional shares.

The eligible shareholders will receive one share for every 14 shares held on the record date. The record date for determining shareholders' eligibility to participate in the rights issue was 28 September 2021.

Bharti Airtel only collected 25% payment upfront and the remaining 75% will be collected over a three-year period in two tranches. The shares issued under the rights programme will be traded separately as partly-paid shares and the trading will take place from 28 October 2021.

Airtel is the second largest telco in the Indian telecom market, next only to Reliance Jio, with a mobile user base of 352 m.

Bharti Airtel share price ended the day down by 0.2% on the BSE.

Speaking of the stock markets, a right investing process can help you win in the long term. It might offer some unexpected and undesirable results in the short term but lets you fare well when you average the outcomes.

According to Richa Agarwal, Senior Research Analyst at Equitymaster, any investment process should not be judged based on individual outcomes. Instead, it should have stood the test of the time.

Her smallcap service Hidden Treasure has had its fair share of failures. But sticking to a disciplined process meant that Hidden Treasure's internal rate of return (IRR) increased to 24.38% since inception. This compares favourably to the IRRs of 9.6% for the Sensex, and 8.8% for the smallcap index in the same period (February 2008 - June 2020) as can be seen in the chart below.

INCLUDEPICTURE "https://www.eqimg.com/profit-hunter/images/2020/08182020-chart2-equitymaster.gif" \* MERGEFORMATINET

The service's performance did suffer in the short term after the 2018 crash in smallcaps. However, the long term track record and the post Covid rebound underscores the strength of stock picking process.

If you are interested in becoming a Hidden Treasure subscriber, here's where you can sign up.

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!

Read the latest Market Commentary

Top Gainers TodayTop Gainers over 1-WeekTop Gainers over 1-MonthTop Gainers over 1-YearTop Gainers over 3-YrsTop Gainers over 5-YrsTop Losers TodayTop Losers over 1-WeekTop Losers over 1-MonthTop Losers over 1-YearTop Losers over 3-YrsTop Losers over 5-YrsOnly BuyersOnly SellersMost Active StocksMost Popular Stocks52 Week High Stocks52 Week Low Stocks

INDICESBSE (Rs 0 to 1)BSE (Rs 1 to 2)BSE (Rs 2 to 4)BSE (Rs 4 to 10)BSE (Rs 10 to 20)BSE (Above Rs 20)BSE - AllBSE-30BSE-100BSE-200BSE-500BSE AutoBSE BankexBSE Capital GoodsBSE Consumer DurablesBSE FMCGBSE HealthcareBSE ITBSE MetalBSE Oil & GasBSE PSUBSE TeckBSE RealtyBSE PowerBSE A GroupBSE B GroupBSE Mid-CapBSE Small-CapBSE Basic MaterialsBSE Consumer DiscretionaryBSE IndustrialsBSE UtilitiesBSE Sensex 50BSE Sensex Next 50BSE Bharat 22BSE 150 MidCapBSE 250 SmallCapBSE 250 LargeMidCapBSE 400 MidSmallCapBSE AllCapBSE LargeCapBSE SmallCap SelectBSE 100 LargeCap TMCBSE InfraBSE ManufacturingBSE CPSEBSE Private BankBSE Diversified FinancialsBSE MomentumBSE Low VolatilityBSE QualityBSE Enhanced ValueBSE Divident StabilityS&P BSE IPOBSE SMEIPOBSE 100 ESGBSE CarbonexBSE GreenexNSE (Rs 0 to 10)NSE (Rs 10 to 20)NSE (Above Rs 20)NSE - AllNSE-50NSE ITNSE Nifty Midcap 50NSE JR. NiftyNSE Bank NiftyNIFTY Next 50NIFTY 100NIFTY 200NIFTY 500NIFTY MidCap 100NIFTY SmallCap 250NIFTY SmallCap 50NIFTY SmallCap 100NIFTY LargeMidCap 250NIFTY MidSmallCap 400NIFTY AutoNIFTY Consumer DurablesNIFTY FinanceNIFTY FMCGNIFTY MediaNIFTY MetalNIFTY PharmaNIFTY Private BankNIFTY PSU BankNIFTY RealtyNIFTY Oil & GasNIFTY SME EmergeNIFTY CommoditiesNIFTY CPSENIFTY EnergyNIFTY India ConsumptionNIFTY InfraNIFTY MNCNIFTY PSENIFTY Serv SectorNIFTY100 Liquid 15NIFTY Midcap Liquid 15NIFTY Midcap 150 Quality 50NIFTY50 Equal WeightNIFTY100 Equal WeightNIFTY100 Low Volatility 30NIFTY100 Alpha 30NIFTY Alpha 50NIFTY Dividend Opportunities 50NIFTY High Beta 50NIFTY Low Volatility 50NIFTY200 Quality 30NIFTY 500 Value 50NIFTY 100 Quality 30SECTORSAgricultureAirlinesAluminiumAsset Management CompaniesAutomobilesAuto AncillariesBanks (Private)Banks (PSU)BankingCementChemicalsDefenceDiagnosticsDronesEngineeringElectric VehicleElectric Vehicle BatteryEnergy SourcesESGEthanolFertilizersFintechFMCGFoodGreen HydrogenHotelsInfrastructureInsuranceInvestment and FinanceInvITIT (Large)IT (Others)LogisticsMediaMetalMiningIndia's Big Tech StocksIndian PharmaMNC PharmaPSUPaintPaperPlasticPowerRating AgenciesReal EstateREITsRenewable EnergyRetailingSemiconductorShippingSteelSugarSupply ChainTelecomTextilesTravel Support Services

10 results 25 results 50 results 100 results All results

Indian Share Market Update: Top Gainers and Losers