Sensex slips 129 points in volatile trade; Nifty settles at 18,130; Indo Amines jump 15%; JK Tyre & GNFC dive up to 9%

Domestic equity indices extended their weakness for the straight third session as headline indices settled lower on Thursday. Headline pears erased the entire early gains to fall back into the negative territory, shrugging the positive global cues aside amid the expiry of weekly derivative contracts. For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex fell 128.90 points, or 0.21 per cent, to settle at Rs 61,431.74. NSE's Nifty50 index declined 51.80 points, or 0.28 per cent, to close at 18,129.95. Broader markets underperformed the headline peers as the BSE midcap and smallcap index settled lower. Fear gauge India VIX dropped over 2 per cent to end the day at the 12.80-mark. Markets traded volatile on the weekly expiry day and ended marginally lower. Firm global cues triggered a gap-up start however profit-taking in the select index majors trimmed the gains as the day progressed. Mostly sectoral indices ended lower but some resilience in banking and financials capped the damage, said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking. "It is healthy consolidation so far, however volatility across sectors is keeping traders on their toes.  We feel it’s prudent to stay light and utilize this phase to gradually accumulate quality stocks from top performing sectors viz. banking, financials, FMCG and auto," he said. On a sectoral front, only Nifty Financial Services and Private Bank indices managed to settle in green. Nifty Realty and PSU Bank indices led the losers, with each falling 2 per cent. Nifty FMCG, Pharma and Oil & Gas indices shed more than a per cent, each. Nifty Auto, Media, Consumer Durable and Healthcare indices were other key laggards for the day. In the Nifty50 pack, Divis Labs topped the losers with a 3 per cent cut, followed by a similar fall in Adani Ports. ITC and State Bank of India dropped 2 per cent, each, amid the Q4 results buzz. Power Grid, Eicher Motors, Titan Company and Larsen & Toubro were other key laggards. Among the gainers, Bajaj Finance gained more than a per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and HCL Technologies, which added about a per cent, each. Asian Paints, HDFC Life Insurance Company and HDFC Bank were the other key gainers. Domestic markets underperformed Asian peers as profit-taking entered for the third straight session, with investors maintaining risk-on sentiment in the wake of a sharp spike in valuation following the recent upsurge. Bearishness is also seen due to caution over the US debt-ceiling deal and signs of slowing demand in China, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities. "Technically, the Nifty has formed a lower top formation on intraday charts and has also formed a bearish candle on daily charts which is broadly negative. The market texture is weak and the 20-day SMA or 18,050 would be the immediate support zone for the bulls. On the other hand, 18,200 could act as an immediate resistance zone for the traders, above which the index could retest the level of 18,280-18,300," he said. A total of 3,606 shares were traded on BSE on Thursday, of which 1,913 settled with cuts, 1,566 stocks ended the session lower while 127 shares remained unchanged. A total of 173 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 138 tested the lower circuit levels for the day. In the broader markets, JK Tyres dropped more than 9 per cent on the back of muted Q4 performance, while GNFC shed more than 8 per cent due to similar reasons. Dismal performance by Shalby, Thermax and Thirumalai Chemicals in the March 2023 quarter led to a 7 per cent correction in each stock. Among the gainers, Indo Amines gained about 15 per cent after a strong Q4 performance, while Restaurant Brands Asia jumped over 14 per cent amid the bulk deal buzz after strong Q4 numbers. Tilaknagar Industries rose 13 per cent after the merger approval. The Anup Engineering and eMudhra advanced 13 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.