Sensex, Nifty50 edge lower in morning trade as banking and metal stocks decline

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 edged lower in morning trade on Wednesday amid negative global cues and weak earnings in the US.
  
• Banking and metal stocks declined while IT stocks edged up.
  
• Both the indices were down 0.1% – while Sensex fell 83 points to 60,051, Nifty50 fell 32 points to 17,738.

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 edged lower in morning trade on Wednesday amid negative global cues and weak earnings in the US. Banking and metal stocks declined while IT stocks edged up.

Both the indices were down 0.1% in morning trade – while Sensex fell 83 points to 60,051, Nifty50 fell 32 points to 17,738.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty50

Source: NSE, as on April 26, 2023

Earlier on Tuesday, markets extended their gains to the fourth consecutive day, edging up by a little over 0.1%.

Gold prices edged up to cross the ₹60,000 per 10 grams mark once again, while silver prices softened to below ₹75,000 per kilogram. Crude oil prices remained stable, with Brent crude oil hovering around the $81 per barrel mark on Wednesday morning.

US markets tumble on weak earnings

Markets in the US tumbled to post their largest single day decline on Tuesday amid weak earnings reigniting concerns of an economic slowdown. While Dow Jones declined 1%, S&P 500 fell nearly 1.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq witnessed a decline of nearly 2%.

Causing concerns was a weak earnings forecast by United Parcel Service (UPS), while First Republic Bank’s shares fell nearly 50% amid plunging deposits leading to jitters about the health of the US banking sector.

Markets in Asia were also largely negative on Wednesday morning reflecting the concerns in the US. Nikkei 225 fell the most at 0.53%, followed by Taiwan Weighted, KOSPI and Shanghai Composite which were down by 0.2%. On the other hand, the Hang Seng index rose 0.43%.

Stocks to watch

Bajaj Auto: The automaker’s Q4 standalone net profit fell to ₹1,433 crore, down by nearly 2% YoY. Rising input costs and shrinking exports ate into the two-wheeler maker's volumes as well as bottomline, even as the company’s topline expanded by 12% to ₹8,905 crore during the quarter.

Tata Consumer Products: The FMCG player reported a 21% rise in consolidated net profit at ₹289 crore in March quarter while its revenue from operations rose 14% to ₹3,618 crore during the same period.

Maruti Suzuki: The largest Indian automobile manufacturer has upgraded its entire range of vehicles to meet the BS6 emission norms including hatchbacks, sedans, SUVs, MPVs and commercial vehicles.

HDFC AMC: The mutual fund company’s net profit for Q4 rose 9% to ₹376 crore from ₹343 crore last year while its total income grew by 10% to ₹637 crore.

Zomato: The food delivery platform has signed an agreement with Zypp Electric, an EV startup for the delivery of 1 lakh e-scooters by 2024. This association is a part of Zomato’s plan to go completely electric by 2030.

Earnings today: Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Life, SBI Life, Union Bank of India, Indus Towers, Voltas, Biocon, L&t Technology Services and Oracle Financial will report their March quarter and FY23 earnings today.

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Bajaj Auto Q4 net profit falls 2% YoY to ₹1,433 crore