Sensex Crash Today | Market Crash Highlights : Sensex, Nifty close down more than 1%; PSU Bank, Realty fall the most

Sensex Today Live : Capping a day of tumultuous trading, when markets saw the benchmark indices crash, both Sensex and Nifty closed down more than 1%.

Having opened at 73,162.82, the Sensex touched a low of 72,229.64 during the day’s trade, but pared some losses to end the day at 72,304.88, down 790.34 points, or 1.08%.

Meanwhile the Nifty, that had opened at 22,214.10, touched a low of 21,923.50 during the day. At close, it was down 247.20 points, or 1.11%, at 21,951.15.

HUL, Infosys, and TCS, were the only stocks that ended the day in green on the Sensex, while Power Grid Corp., IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Wipro, and Tata Steel, were the biggest losers.

On the Nifty, Power Grid Corp., Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospital Enterprises, Eicher Motors, and IndusInd bank were the biggest losers, while HUL, Airtel, Infosys, and TCS, ended the day in gained.

The broader market was deep in the red at closing bell, with the Midcap index down 1.94%, and the Smallcap index down 1.87%.

Across sectors, Nifty Media closed down 3.46%, while PSU Bank, Oil & Gas, Realty and Auto indices were down more than 2%.

That apart, Bank closed down 1.34%, while Metal and Private Bank indices were down more than 1%. Rest of the sector indices also ended the day in the red.

Sensex Today Live : Across sectors, Media, PSU Bank, and Realty indices were down more than 2%, while Oil & Gas, Bank, Auto, Metal, and Private Bank indices were down more than 1%.

Sensex Today Live : The broader market were deep in the red, with the Midcap index down 1.69%, while the Smallcap index was down 1.57%.

Sensex Today Live : Power Grid Corp., Apollo Hospitals, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki India and IndusInd bank were the biggest losers on the Nifty 50, while Infosys, TCS, HUL, Airtel, and HDFC Life gained.  

Sensex Today Live : TCS, Infosys, HUL, and Airtel were the only gainers on Sensex, while Power Grid Corp., Maruti Suzuki India, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Asian Paints were the biggest losers. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were deep in the red in the afternoon.

At 3 pm, Sensex was down 673.11 points, or 0.92%, at 72,422.11, and Nifty was down 227 points, or 1.02%, at 21,971.35.

Sensex Today Live : Purv Flexipack IPO has opened for subscription on Tuesday, February 27, and will close on Thursday, February 29. Purv Flexipack IPO price band has been set in the range of ₹70 to ₹71 apiece of face value of ₹10 each. Purv Flexipack IPO lot size consists of 1,600 shares. Investors can bid for a minimum of 1,600 shares and in multiples thereof.

Purv Flexipack IPO has reserved not more than 50% of the shares in the public issue for qualified institutional buyers (QIB), not less than 15% for non-institutional Institutional Investors (NII), and not less than 35% of the offer is reserved for retail investors. The market maker category has been reserved upto 3,48,800 equity shares.

Sensex Today Live : Budget airline SpiceJet and Celestial Aviation, a subsidiary of AerCap, one of the world’s largest aircraft lessors, have amicably settled their $29.9 million ( ₹250 Crore) dispute, avoiding a prolonged legal battle, on February 29, an official release said.

The settlement was reached through mutual negotiations and approved by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) last week. The formal withdrawal of the case is scheduled for March 1, 2024.

In August last year, Celestial Aviation Services initiated insolvency proceedings actions against SpiceJet, citing a failure to pay $29.9 million for leasing nine aircraft.

Sensex Today Live : India’s booming economy has fuelled a surge in investments in expensive watches, art and other luxury collectibles among the country’s super-rich. Opulent symbols of wealth such as Rolex watches and MF Husain artworks offer the ultra-rich not only status but also potentially lucrative returns. For India’s 1%, who account for 40% of the country’s wealth, rare timepieces and exquisite artworks offer ways to diversify their portfolios. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Two sectors that have emerged as top wealth creators in the stock market over the last year are defence and railways.

Defence stocks have seen a significant uptrend in recent years, bolstered by the government’s push for indigenisation. Railway stocks, on the other hand, received a major lift from the 2023 Union Budget, which prioritized sectoral spending.

Despite the substantial rise in these stocks, investors are keenly watching for opportunities. But which railway and defence stocks are poised to continue their growth trajectory in 2024 and beyond?

So which railway and defence stocks could continue to shine in 2024 and beyond? (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were deep in the red in the afternoon.

At 1 pm, Sensex was down 513.31 points, or 0.70%, at 72,581.91, and Nifty was down 171.75 points, or 0.77%, at 22,026.60.

Sensex Today Live : The State Bank of India’s (SBI) research ‘Ecowrap’ states that the GDP growth for the December quarter of the fiscal year 2024 (Q3FY24) – to be announced tomorrow – is likely to be 6.8 percent, assuming no changes to the base figures. However, there is potential for it to reach 7 percent in case of any downward revisions in the GDP growth figures for the third quarter of the fiscal year 2023 (Q3FY23). These revisions in the previous year’s data could positively impact the current year’s growth figures.

As per the report, the CLI Index (a basket of 41 leading indicators which include parameters from almost all the sectors) based on monthly data shows a slight moderation in economic activity in Q3. Factoring the slight decline in economic activity in Q3 FY24, it estimates GDP should grow in the range of 6.7-6.9 percent with a Gross Value Added (GVA) growth of 6.6 percent.

According to the government’s first estimates, the Indian economy will grow at 7.3 percent in FY24, faster than the RBI’s upwardly revised estimate of 7 percent. The World Bank expects the Indian economy to grow 6.3 percent in FY24, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently revised its estimate from 6.3 percent to 6.5 percent.

Sensex Today Live : India’s thermal coal imports are expected to fall for the first time this year since the COVID-19 pandemic due to increasing domestic output and record-high inventories, industry officials said on Tuesday.

Out of eleven coal traders Reuters spoke with at the Coaltrans India conference in the western state of Goa, eight expected shipments of the fuel to decrease this year, while the others foresaw flat imports or marginal growth.

Surging production and supplies by the world’s largest miner Coal India have pushed stockpiles at power plants to record highs of over 43 million metric tons, prompting it to sell more to non-power sector users such as sponge iron and aluminium smelters, which have traditionally imported the fuel.

Pawan Kumar, head of coal sourcing at power producer SEIL Energy India, said he expects thermal coal imports to fall over 3% to 170 million tons, while Rodrigo Echeverri, head of research at Noble Resources, forecast a near-6% decline.

India imported 176 million tons of thermal coal in 2023, driven mainly by power plants.

Sensex Today Live : Travel booking platform EaseMyTrip has tied up with SaaS fintech company Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services that specializes in spend management solutions to provide EaseMyTrip’s corporate clients with a streamlined and efficient way to manage their travel and expense needs.

Through this partnership, the company’s corporate clients will gain access to Zaggle’s Expense Management System (EMS) platform. Rikant Pittie, Co-Founder of EaseMyTrip said; “We’re excited about our strategic partnership with Zaggle, a leading SaaS FinTech player. By integrating travel booking with expense reporting, we offer a streamlined workflow, policy compliance, and real-time visibility into travel expenditure to our corporate clients.’’

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were deep in the red in the afternoon.

At 1 pm, Sensex was down 678.34 points, or 0.93%, at 72,416.88, and Nifty was down 216.75 points, or 0.98%, at 21,981.60.

Sensex Today Live : Maruti Suzuki India is likely to be a key beneficiary as customer preference seems to be gradually shifting towards hybrid vehicles from electric vehicles (EVs), analysts said. Maruti Suzuki India is working on multiple technologies, such as Hybrids, EVs, Flex-fuel and Biogas in addition to ICE and CNG as the company believes multiple technologies can co-exist in the medium-to-long term.

“The company had a foresight back then (when it launched CNG) and we believe its current tech-agnostic approach is again a well-thought-out approach against committing resources to a single technology,” JM Financial said, adding that tax rationalization on Hybrids could act as a fillip and shift consumer preference towards this choice of powertrain. “Given the evolving global landscape and Maruti Suzuki’s tech-agnostic approach, we remain positive on the company,” JM Financial said.

The brokerage firm maintained a ‘Buy’ rating on Maruti Suzuki shares and raised the target price to ₹13,000 per share from ₹12,250 earlier, implying an upside of over 13% from Tuesday’s closing price.

Sensex Today Live : The bankrupt financial services company Reliance Capital will be delisted from the bourses, following the completion of its acquisition by Hinduja Group entity IndusInd International Holdings Ltd, the company said, citing its Approved Resolution Plan, in an exchange filing on February 28.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) had on Tuesday approved the ₹9,650-crore resolution plan of IndusInd International Holdings Ltd (IIHL), to acquire bankrupt Reliance Capital Ltd.

Sensex Today Live : The fall in the benchmark indices was mirrored across sectors, with the Media index down 2.89%, while the Realty index was down 2.28% and the PSU Bank down 2.21%. Oil & Gas, Auto and Metal indices were also down more than 1%.

Sensex Today Live : The broader market was deep in the red with the Midcap index down 1.38%, while the Smallcap index had fallen 1.69%.

Sensex Today Live : GHDFC Life, TCS, Infosys, HUL, and SBI Life, were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Bajaj Auto, Apollo Hospital Enterprises, Power Grid Corp., Maruti, and Wipro were the top losers. 

Sensex Today Live : TCS, Infosys, HUL, Bajaj Finance and Airtel, were the top gainers on the Sensex, while Power Grid Corp., Maruti, Asian Paints, Wipro and Mahindra & Mahindra, were the top losers. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were down at noon.

At 12 pm, Sensex was down 484.99 points, or 0.66%, at 72,610.23, and Nifty was down 159.45 points, or 0.45%, at 22,038.90.

Sensex Today Live : A RBI directive from October 2022 could potentially reduce the number of asset reconstruction companies in India, experts said, as these institutions try to meet the regulatory net owned funds requirement deadline in March.

The RBI had raised the minimum mandated net owned funds of asset reconstruction companies (ARCs) to ₹300 crore, from ₹100 crore at present. The regulator had offered a glidepath to reach ₹300 crore by 31 March 2026, with the target for March 2024 being set at ₹200 crore. Industry executives and external experts said this could prove detrimental for smaller ARCs that lack the ability to meet the NOF norms. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : The taxman will defer to secured creditors such as banks while sharing the proceeds of a bankruptcy rescue, two people aware of the government’s plans said.

The Centre will amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to unambiguously state that tax authorities will be below secured creditors having a charge on the assets of a corporate borrower in hierarchy while distributing the proceeds, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.

This is a key proposal in the amendments to the IBC that the ministry of corporate affairs has prepared in consultation with the sector’s rule maker Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI). The amendments will be presented in the Parliament after the national polls in the April-May period, one of the two persons quoted above said.

Sensex Today Live : After opening on a positive but muted note, Indian benchmark indices fell on Wednesday.

At 11 am, Sensex was down 426.95 points, or 0.58%, at 72,668.27, and Nifty was down 163.35 points, or 0.74%, at 22,035.

Sensex Today Live : Our experience suggests that trying to time the market is fraught with uncertainty, with a high probability of being wrong 99% of the time,” says Deepak Shenoy, founder and CEO of Capitalmind. “I view buying bonds as a sound tactical move, particularly in the current market environment where interest rates are expected to decline,” adds Shenoy in an interaction with Mint for the Guru Portfolio series. In this series, leaders in the financial services industry share how they manage their own money. (Read edited excerpts from the interview here.)

Sensex Today Live : Shares of FMCG company Patanjali Foods fell by 4.13% to ₹1,555 apiece in today’s early morning trade after the Supreme Court on Tuesday served a contempt notice to Ramdev-owned Patanjali Ayurved and its managing director Acharya Balakrishna for going back on their promise to not make “misleading claims” in advertisements for its medicines.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday served a contempt notice to Ramdev-owned Patanjali Ayurved and its managing director Acharya Balakrishna for issuing misleading advertisements about health cures in violation of an earlier order. The apex also court barred Patanjali from promoting products claimed to cure diseases such as heart ailments and asthma. However, Patanjali Foods said in a regulatory filing, “The observations of the Supreme Court of India do not relate to Patanjali Foods Limited which is an independent listed entity and operates in the space of edible oil and food FMCG products only”.

Sensex Today Live : Juniper Hotels share price made a tepid debut on the bourses today. On NSE, Juniper Hotels share price opened at ₹365 per share, 1.39% higher than the issue price of ₹360. On BSE, Juniper Hotels share price today opened at ₹361.20 apiece, up 0.33% than the issue price.

Experts anticipated Juniper Hotels share price to list in the range of ₹345 to ₹370 range.

Juniper Hotels IPO subscription status was 2.08 times on the third day, where the retail portion was booked 1.28 times, as per BSE data. The Non Institutional Investors (NII) portion was booked 85%, and Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) portion was booked 2.96 times.

Sensex Today Live : On the outlook for the Indian stock market today, Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said, “Markets rebounded from 2-session losses as selective buying in frontline stocks aided recovery from early weakness. There is no major trigger and investors are taking cues from global markets. Buying in IT, auto and realty shares boosted gains of key indices, while sharp fall in oil & gas and financial stocks kept gains under check. As we approach F&O expiry day on Thursday, volatility will begin to kick-in as traders will rollover their positions to next expiry day. Technically, the Nifty has support at 22001-21839 while the index faces resistance at 22351 and 22501 levels.” (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : After opening on a positive but muted note, Indian benchmark indices were marginally down on Wednesday.

At 10 am, Sensex was down 59.06 points, or 0.08%, at 73,036.16, and Nifty was down 21.90 points, or 0.1%, at 22,176.45.

Sensex Today Live : Bharat Highways InvIT IPO opens for subscription today (Wednesday, February 28), and will close on Friday, March 1. Bharat Highways InvIT IPO raised ₹825.97 crore from anchor investors on Tuesday, February 27. The company notified the exchanges that it allocated 8,25,97,350 equity shares at ₹100 apiece.

Bharat Highways InvIT IPO price band has been set in the range of ₹98 to ₹100 per equity share. Bharat Highways InvIT IPO lot size is 150 equity shares and in multiples of 150 equity shares thereafter. (Check details here.)

Sensex Today Live : Corporate India has continued its robust performance buoyed by incrementally accelerating consumption patterns across urban-rural landscape.

Corporate results, as recorded from around 4,000 listed entities, for Q3FY24, shows robust growth of more than 30% in both EBIDTA and PAT, while top line grew by around 7% as compared to Q3FY23.

Further, listed entities reported improvement in margin, as reflected in results of around 3,000 listed entities ex. BFSI, with EBIDTA margin of 14.95%, on aggregate basis, during Q3FY24, as compared to around 12% during the same period previous year.

Corporate GVA, as measured by EBIDTA plus employee expenses reported a strong growth of around 26% in Q3FY24 as compared to Q3FY23.

As per First Advance Estimates, the estimated production of major Kharif crops for 2023-24 is 148.5 MMT, which is a decline of ~4.6% from FY23.

While, the sowing season for rabi crops concluded on 23 Feb, indicate a slight increase in overall acreage compared to the previous year. However, concerns arose over the sown area under cereals, which saw a decline of 6.5% from the previous year. While agriculture may see some moderation if the rabi output does not offset the kharif shortfall, value added in agriculture will decline.

Sensex Today Live : Vodafone Idea share price fell over 4% in early trade on Wednesday after the telecom operator’s board approved fundraising of up to ₹45,000 crore through equity and debt. Vodafone Idea shares declined as much as 4.85% to ₹15.10 apiece on the BSE.

Cash-strapped private telecom operator, Vodafone-Idea, on Tuesday saw its board approve a ₹45,000-crore fund raising initiative—including a ₹20,000 crore equity-based fund raise from existing investors. A shareholder meet for the fund raise is expected to take place on 2 April, post which the operator expects to complete the equity fund raise by the end of the upcoming June quarter. Following the equity fund raise, Vodafone-Idea will further look to raise debt—taking the total amount of funding up to ₹45,000 crore. Existing promoters of Vodafone-Idea will also be involved in the equity fund raise, the company confirmed in a media statement.

Sensex Today Live : The likelihood of the global economy exhibiting stronger than expected growth in 2024 has brightened in recent months, with risks broadly balanced.

On the flip side though, both UK and Japan slipping into recession warrants return to drawing board.

Global complexity further gets clouded with the marked slowdown in China facing deflationary concerns now. The waning might of the mainland that has been battling tech and strategic isolation at world stage does not augur well for industrial and commodity demands for a world order limping back to normalcy in the short run at least.

As a counter narrative to the global gloom, consumer confidence has strengthened further in India, driven chiefly by optimism about the general economic situation and employment conditions. Various enterprise surveys also point towards strong business optimism.

The CLI Index (a basket of 41 leading indicators which includes parameters from almost all the sectors) based on monthly data shows a slight moderation in economic activity in Q3.

Factoring the slight decline in economic activity in Q3FY24, we estimate GDP should grow in the range of 6.7-6.9% with a GVA growth of 6.6%.

Sensex Today Live : Across sectors, Realty, Healthcare, Pharma, FMCG, and IT indices were under pressure in early trades. 

Sensex Today Live : The broader markets were largely positive in early trades, with the Smallcap and Midcap indices trending upwards. 

Sensex Today Live : Airtel, Tata Consumer Products, Tata Motors, SBI, and Hindalco, were the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Apollo Hospital Enterprises, UltraTech Cement, Wipro, L&T, and Cipla were the top losers. 

Sensex Today Live : Airtel, Tata Motors, SBI, Tata Steel, and Tech Mahindra, were the top gainers on Sensex, while Wipro, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Power Grid Corp., and Maruti were the top losers. 

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices opened on a positive note on Wednesday, despite mixed signals from Asian markets.

At opening bell, Sensex was up 32.78 points, or 0.04%, at 73,128, and Nifty was up 11.65 points, or 0.05%, at 22,210.

Sensex Today Live : Indian benchmark indices were up during pre-open trading on Wednesday, despite mixed signals from Asian peers.

Sensex was up 67.60 points, or 0.09%, at 73,162.82 and Nifty was down 17.05 points, or 0.08%, at 22,215.40 during pre-open.

Sensex Today Live : Bank Nifty ends flat to negative being stuck in a range of the short- and medium-term averages and could witness an either side breakout from current levels.

On the higher side 47,000 will act as resistance and on the downside support is placed at 46,100 being the 20-day average.

RSI is trending near to its average line and we expect the momentum to continue to test the lower band over the next few days.

Bank Nifty highest call OI is at 47,000 levels while on the downside put OI is at 46,500 levels for the monthly expiry.

Sensex Today Live : Nifty-50 made a lower top near to its all time high and reversed its previous day loss with momentum in the second half to close at the higher range.

An either side move could be expected in the next few days after a consolidation of 130 points over the past few days.

RSI is reversing downwards from the higher range on daily charts and expected to witness some retracement from current levels.

Highest call OI has moved lower to 22,400 strike, while on the downside the highest put OI is at 22,000 for the monthly expiry.

Sensex Today Live : Shares of South West Pinnacle Exploration and Fiem Industries Ltd will be in focus when the stock market opens on February 28 (Wednesday).

The Board of Directors of these companies have declared interim dividend and bonus issue for their eligible shareholders. (Check the details here.)

Sensex Today Live : The trends on Gift Nifty indicate a flat to positive start for the Indian benchmark index. The Gift Nifty was trading around 22,235 level as compared to the Nifty futures’ previous close of 22,196.

On Tuesday, the Indian stock market indices rebounded from a two-day correction and ended higher.

The Sensex gained 305.09 points to close at 73,095.22, while the Nifty 50 settled 76.30 points, or 0.34%, higher at 22,198.35.

Nifty 50 formed a reasonable positive candle on the daily chart that has engulfed the small negative candle of Monday.

“Technically, this market action is signaling a bullish engulfing pattern. But, the placement of the pattern is not convincing to call this as an important bullish reversal pattern. The near-term uptrend status of Nifty remains positive and bullish chart pattern like higher tops and bottoms are also intact. At the same time, the market is not gaining strength to witness an upside breakout of 22,200 – 22,300 levels decisively,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : The domestic equity indices are expected to open on a steady note amid mixed global market cues.

The Asian markets traded flat while the US stock market ended mixed overnight ahead of the key economic data that could shed light on the possible timing of a US Federal Reserve interest rate cut.

Expectations for a cut of at least 25 basis points (bps) by the Fed at its June meeting stand at 59.1%, down from the near certainty at the end of January, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch tool.

Investors will now watch for Thursday’s January personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE), the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge.

On Tuesday, the Indian stock market indices ended higher, snapping a two-day correction. (Read the full story here.)

Sensex Today Live : With Gift Nifty, at 22,233.50, at 7:35 am, trending 35 points higher than the Nifty 50 close of 22,198.35, Indian benchmarks looked all set to open on a positive note.

U.S. stocks held near their record levels on Tuesday after a quiet day of trading.

The S&P 500 added 8.65 points, or 0.2%, to 5,078.18 and is just off its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 96.82, or 0.2%, to 38,972.41, and the Nasdaq composite rose 59.05, or 0.4%, to 16,035.30.

A global equities index advanced slightly on Tuesday as investors weighed the outlook for central bank rate cuts after the latest batch of economic data and ahead of a key U.S. inflation reading due Thursday, while the dollar fell against the yen.

MSCI’s gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.43 points, or 0.19%, to 760.60.

Oil prices rose after reports that producer group OPEC was considering extending voluntary oil output cuts into the second quarter to provide additional support.

Earlier in the day, the Conference Board said U.S. consumer confidence retreated in February after three straight monthly increases. Its consumer confidence index slipped to 106.7 this month versus economist expectations of 115.0 and a downwardly revised 110.9 for January.

Also, orders for long-lasting U.S. manufactured goods fell by the most in nearly four years in January amid a sharp drop in bookings for commercial aircraft, while the outlook for business investment on equipment was mixed.

The next key data investors are looking to is Thursday’s release of January’s U.S. personal consumption expenditures index (PCE), which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure.

U.S. crude settled up 1.66% at $78.87 a barrel while Brent finished up 1.36% at $83.65 per barrel.

Gold prices held steady with the U.S. inflation reading and comments from Fed officials on investors’ radar this week.

Spot gold edged 0.1% higher at $2,031.99 per ounce(Oz), as of 0135 GMT. U.S. gold futures fell 0.2% to $2,041.00 per ounce.

In cryptocurrencies, bitcoin rose 3.90% to $56,795.00.