Sensex down over 500 pts, Nifty below 16,250; IndusInd Bank, TechM top losers

HCL Tech is among the top gainers today. IndusInd Bank and Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, are among the top losers today. (File Photo: AP)
HCL Tech is among the top gainers today. IndusInd Bank and Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, are among the top losers today. (File Photo: AP)

Summary

  • Indian share markets fall at open. The BSE Sensex is down 572 points, while the Nifty is trading lower by 164 points.

Asian share markets fell today tracking a fall in US markets amid concerns over higher interest rates, with focus shifting to Japanese corporate earnings.

The Nikkei dropped 2.3% while the Hang Seng shed 3.8%. The Shanghai Composite is trading on a flat note.

In US stock markets, a turbulent week ended Friday with more losses and the stock market's fifth straight weekly decline.

Despite strong US jobs report, US markets fell on Friday amid worries the Federal Reserve may cause a recession in its drive to halt inflation.

The Dow Jones dropped 0.3% while the Nasdaq plunged 1.4%.

Back home, Indian share markets are trading deep in the red.

Benchmark indices started today’s session with deep cuts as weak global sentiment continued to weigh on equities.

Market participants are tracking shares of UPL, PVR and Vedant Fashions as these companies will announce their March quarter results later today.

Meanwhile, Campus Activewear made its debut on the bourses today. The IPO of India's largest sports and athleisure footwear brand was open for subscription between 26-28 April as the company raised ₹14 bn by selling shares in the range of ₹278-292.

The BSE Sensex is trading down by 572 points. Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty is trading lower by 164 points.

HCL Tech is among the top gainers today. IndusInd Bank and Tech Mahindra, on the other hand, are among the top losers today.

Both, the BSE Mid Cap index and the BSE Small Cap index are trading lower by 1.7%.

Barring IT, all sectoral indices are trading in red with stocks in the metal sector, energy sector and banking sector witnessing most of the selling.

Shares of Power Grid and Coromandel International hit their 52-week highs today.

The rupee is trading at 77.34 against the US$.

Gold prices are trading down by 0.1% at ₹51,326 per 10 grams.

Crude oil prices are down as investors eyed talks at the European Union on a Russian oil embargo that is expected to tighten global supplies.

Speaking of the current stock market scenario, to understand what our readers are thinking, we ran a poll on Equitymaster's Telegram Channel over the weekend.

Here's what we asked our readers...

The BSE Sensex is currently at 54,835. What’s your best guesstimate of the Sensex level at close on 31st December 2022?

· 45,000

· 50,000

· 55,000

· 60,000

· 65,000

· Can’t say

With a response from over 1,200 participants, here is the final result:

Equitymaster
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Equitymaster

In news from the insurance sector, the government may infuse ₹30-50 bn additional capital in the three public sector general insurance companies based on their performance and requirement during the year.

According to sources, the capital infusion would help improve the financial health of the general insurance firms National Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company.

In the last financial year, the government made a capital infusion of ₹50 bn to these companies. During 2020-21, ₹99.5 bn was infused.

The three public sector general insurers are short of solvency margin and to improve operational efficiencies an external consultant will be appointed soon.

Note that the government has already announced its intention to privatise one general insurance company. To facilitate privatisation, the Parliament has already approved amendments to the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act (GIBNA).

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a big-ticket privatisation agenda in this year’s budget, which included two public sector banks (PSB) and one general insurance company.

We will keep you updated on the latest developments from this space. Stay tuned.

Speaking of the insurance sector, have a look at the chart below which shows the investment assets of non-life insurers and life insurers over the past 10 years:

Equitymaster
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Equitymaster

As per Tanushree Banerjee, Co-Head of Research at Equitymaster, the above chart is enough proof of how big an earning opportunity is the zero-cost float to the non-life insurers. Their investment assets under management is nearly 11 times that of life insurers.

Moving on to stock specific news…

Federal Bank is among the top buzzing stocks today.

Federal Bank has reported a 13.1% jump in its net profit in the January - March quarter of 2022, aided by lower provisions.

The private lender’s net profit in the quarter totaled to ₹5.4 bn, which was also the highest in a quarter. This compared with ₹4.8 bn in the year-ago period.

The bank’s net interest income increased 7.4% to ₹15.3 bn in the quarter under review as compared to ₹14.2 bn in the year-ago period.

Other income dropped 2.6% during the same period to ₹4.7 bn.

Net interest margin, a measure of profitability of banks, stood at 3.16%, a drop of 11 basis points sequentially. The bank management said other income was impacted by lower treasury gains and loss on revaluations of security receipts.

Provisions dropped to ₹752.4 m in the reporting quarter compared to ₹2,544.9 m in the year-ago period.

Federal Bank’s asset quality improved with gross non-performing assets (NPAs) dropping 26 basis points to 2.80%. Net NPAs reduced 9 basis points to 0.96%.

Federal Bank share price is currently trading down by 0.8%.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com

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