Last Updated: January 17, 2024, 15:55 IST
Sensex Crash: Weak global sentiment, coupled with bear hammering of HDFC Bank, dragged benchmarks sharply lower Wednesday. The S&P BSE Sensex plummeted 1,628 points to end at 71,501 levels, while the Nifty50 shut shop at 21,572, lower by 460 points.
Both the benchmarks settled over 2 per cent lower each as against a 1 per cent cut in the BSE MidCap index, and 0.9 per cent fall in the BSE SmallCap index. Volatility gauge, India VIX, soared over 11 per cent.
HDFC Bank plunged over 8 per cent today, followed by Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, JSW Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Asian Paints, M&M, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, ITC, and Reliance Industries (0.8 per cent).
Among sectors, the Nifty Bank, Financial Services, and Private Bank indices declined over 4 per cent each. The Nifty Metal index tumbled 3 per cent, and the Nifty PSU Bank index 1.7 per cent. The Nifty IT index, on the other hand. advanced 0.65 per cent.
“Market is likely to turn slightly weak in the near-term, getting impacted by some negative global and domestic cues. The global negativity will come from the rising bond yields in the US (the 10-year yield is at 4.04 %) responding to concerns that the sharp rate cuts expected from the Fed this year may not materialise. Now indications are that the Fed is unlikely to cut in March and the total cuts in 2024 may not be five or six that the market had partly discounted. This will be a drag on global equity markets. Domestically, even though the economy is doing well and corporate earnings are good, all these positives are in the price and the valuations are elevated warranting a correction,” said Dr V.K. Vijaykumar of Geojit Financial.
LIC overtakes SBI to become most-valued PSU
Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) broke a new record on the stock market today as the share price of the company touched Rs 900 for the first time. It is the level which has not been witnessed by the public insurer since its listing in May 2022.
With its share price at Rs 900, LIC has hit its 52-week high on the stock market on Wednesday. With a spike in the shares of the company, the market capitalisation of LIC has now surpassed that of State Bank of India (SBI), India’s largest government-sector bank.
LIC shares were listed on the stock market on May 17, 2022 at Rs 875.25 apiece, while its issue price ahead of listing was Rs 949. However, the shares of the insurance giant have been on a downward spiral since, hitting an all-time low of Rs 530.
Global Cues
US Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller Tuesday called for the bank to take a cautious approach in cutting rates, raising bets that number of rate cuts may be less than what Wall Street has been expecting.
Asian markets this morning mostly sank. China Q4 GDP grew 5.2 per cent YoY, slightly missing estimates. Hang Seng in Hong Kong sank 2.7 per cent. Kospi fell 1.7 per cent, ASX 200 was down 0.2 per cent, while Nikkei in Japan resumed its rally with a 1.2 per cent jump.
Overnight in the US, the S&P 500 fell 0.37 per cent, the Dow shed 0.62 per cent and the Nasdaq fell 0.19 per cent.
