Investors globally were cautious, awaiting inflation figures in the US later this week after the Fed announced the beginning of $15 billion per month bond tapering last week, much in line with expectations.
The BSE Sensex jumped over 300 points in opening trade. It was quoting at 59,934 at 9.30 am, down 134 points or 0.22 per cent. The NSE barometer Nifty50 hit the 18,000 mark, only to trade at 17,853 later, down 64 points or 0.36 per cent.
“We continue to remain cautious on the market. Traders are advised not to carry aggressive bets on the long side as long as we remain below 18,000-18,100 on a closing basis. We may see the recent corrective move extending towards 17,450 first and if things worsen, the possibility of sliding towards 17,200-17,000 cannot be ruled out,” said Sameet Chavan of Angel Broking.
Among specific stocks, IndusInd Bank plunged 10 per cent after several people, acting as whistleblowers, including a group of senior employees of the IndusInd Bank arm, Bharat Financial Inclusion (BFIL), alerted the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the board of the private sector lender about lapses in governance and accounting norms to allegedly ‘evergreen’ loans running into thousands of crores since the outbreak of Covid-19.
Sun Pharma shares declined 1.29 per cent to Rs 785 while Lupin fell 1.7 per cent to Rs 917 after the two drugmakers recalled different products in the US, the world’s largest market for medicines, for different reasons.
Asian Paints, M&M, HCL Tech and Tata Steel dropped over 1 per cent each.
Maruti Suzuki shares, meanwhile, advanced 1.49 per cent to Rs 7,860. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel and HDFC gained over 1 per cent each.
Pfizer rallied nearly 8 per cent to Rs 5,390.25 after the drug firm reported an 8.81 per cent rise in net profit to Rs 142.95 crore for the September quarter. The company had posted a net profit of Rs 131.37 crore for the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
Britannia Industries, Sobha, Aurobindo Pharma, Shyam Metalics and Energy, EID Parry (India), V-Mart Retail, 3i Infotech, Balrampur Chini Mills, KRBL, Elgi Equipments, Vijaya Diagnostics Centre, HG Infra Engineering and Wockhardt are among the companies that will announce their September quarter results later in the day.
