Sensex, Nifty50 edge lower in morning trade as PSU bank and IT stocks fall

• India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 edged lower in morning trade on Wednesday amid jittery markets worldwide.
  
• PSU bank and IT stocks declined in morning trade amid jitters in the US banking sector.
  
• Both the indices were down 0.3%, with Sensex trading at 61,154 points and Nifty50 at 18,088 points.
  

India’s benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 edged lower in morning trade on Wednesday amid jittery markets worldwide. PSU bank and IT stocks declined in morning trade amid jitters in the US banking sector.

Both the indices were down 0.3%, with Sensex trading at 61,154 points and Nifty50 at 18,088 points. The top five active stocks were all heavyweights, including HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, TCS, among others.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty50

Source: NSE, as on May 3, 2023

Earlier on Tuesday, Sensex closed 0.4% higher while Nifty50 gained 0.46% led by energy, metal and IT stocks.
Gold prices spiked amid mounting growth concerns around the world. Gold gained 1.41% to cross the ₹60,000 level once again to close at ₹60,605 per 10 grams. On the other hand, crude oil prices fell sharply, with Brent crude hovering around $75.5 per barrel, down from the $79 levels.

The US Fed’s FOMC is also expected to announce a 25 basis point rate hike this week.

Global markets feel the jitters

Mounting risks of a contagion in the US’ regional banking sector has made investors jittery – two banks, PacWest Bancorp and Western Alliance both fell by over 25% on Tuesday. The sell-off was visible in the wider markets as well, with Dow Jones falling by 1.1% while S&P 500 was down 1.2%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 1.1%.

Asian markets were largely in the red, with Hang Seng falling the most at 1.6%, followed by KOSPI which was down 0.9%. Taiwan Weighted fell 0.5%, while Nikkei 225 rose 0.1%. The Shanghai Composite, on the other hand, was up 1.1%.

Stocks to watch

Tata Steel: The Tata Group company reported 84% on year decline in consolidated net profit at ₹1,566 crore in March quarter while revenue from operations dropped 9.2% to ₹62,961 crore.

Ambuja Cements: The cement manufacturer reported a standalone net profit of ₹502 crore in the March quarter, seeing an increase of 1.6% YoY, with restructuring costs impacting the profitability. Revenue grew 8.4% YoY to ₹4,256 crore, while volumes grew 8% during the quarter.

Bharti Airtel: The telecom operator has merged its operations of Bharti Airtel Lanka with Dialog, a subsidiary of Malaysian multinational telecommunications conglomerate Axiata Group Berhad. The move will give the company a larger user base in Sri Lanka.

Fino Payments Bank: The company has reported 25% growth in March quarter net profit at ₹22 crore while total income rose 13% to ₹323 crore.

Earnings today: Titan, Adani Wilmar, Bajaj Consumer Care, Godrej Properties, Tata Chemicals, MRF, ABB India, Havells India, Jyothy Labs, KEC International, Sula Vineyards, Anupam Rasayan are among companies to report their quarterly earnings today.

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