Share Market highlights: Sensex closes 627 pts lower, Nifty below 14,700; HDFC Bank, Powergrid, Tech Mahindra top losers

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower tracking weak cues from Asian market. Sensex fell 627 points at 49,509 and Nifty ended at 14,690, down 154 points. On the sectoral front, banking stocks were the top losers, while rise in consumer durables stocks stemmed the fall. Among the individual stocks, HDFC Bank was the top loser on Sensex down 4 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints and Tech Mahindra, among others. On Sensex, 19 stocks ended in the red. Top Sensex gainers were ITC , Bajaj Finserv and HUL gaining up to 1.82%. Developments related to COVID-19, rising bond yields and weak global cues dampened market sentiment in this holiday-shortened week. After remaining closed on Monday for Holi, the stock market would remain closed on Friday for Good Friday.

On Tuesday, Indian equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended higher for the second straight session amid broad-based buying. The BSE 30-share barometer, Sensex, closed higher by 1,128 points, or 2.3 per cent, at 50,136, and the NSE Nifty settled at 14,845, up 337 points or 2.33 per cent. All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with IT and Teck index emerging as top gainers, rising 3 per cent, each. 

NTPC, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Infosys, Titan Company, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Nestle India, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid Corporation of India were among top Sensex gainers. Out of 30 Sensex pack, 27 ended in green, while Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank settled in the red.

Stock in news: Nazara Tech, UltraTech, HPCL, NTPC, IDFC First Bank, Tata Power, TCS, L&T, BHEL

Top gainers on March 30: HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Infosys, NTPC, HUL gained up to 5%

Check Sensex, Nifty live trading here:

3:50 pm: Sensex heavyweights RIL and Infosys ended over 1% lower each in trade today.

3:40 pm: Banking stocks fell the most with BSE bankex slipping 545 points to close at 37,547.  Bank Nifty too closed 571 points lower at 33,303.

3: 30 pm: Sensex closes 627 points lower at 49,509 and Nifty ended at 14,690, down 154 points

3: 11 pm :  Bank Nifty slips over 500 points in last minutes of trade.  Bank Nifty loses 560 points to 33,314 and BSE bankex falls 524 points to 37,568

2: 00 pm : HCC share hits upper circuit 

Hindustan Construction Company (HCC) share price was locked in a 5 percent upper circuit after the company said that HCC Group was to receive Rs 1,259 crore from NHAI BOT conciliations. Hindustan Construction Company share was quoting at Rs 8.07, up Rs 0.38, or 4.94 percent on the BSE.

HCC share hits upper circuit on winning Rs 1,259 crore order from NHAI

1:20 pm: Market breadth in noon session

Market breadth was mixed with 1378 shares rising against 1338 falling on BSE. 195 stocks were unchanged.

12: 45 pm: Expert take

Likhita Chepa, Senior Research Analyst at CapitalVia Global Research said, "The market opened on a slightly negative note after yesterday's rally and the correction continued in the first half following the global cues. US market ended negatively after the US treasury yields hit another high in the market. Asian markets were trading lower following negative cues overnight from Wall Street on bond yield concerns and sliding oil prices. We can expect the market to be in the range of 14500-14900 for the next few trading sessions. Breakout above 14900 we can expect the market to continue the momentum till the levels of 15200. On the sectoral front Metal sector have seen the most strength while IT and Financials have shown slight correction in the market. Tata Motors and UPL are the top gainers while HDFC and HDFC Bank are the top losers on Nifty."

12: 20 pm: Tata Steel stock hits 52-week high

Tata Steel share hit a fresh 52-week high today after the CLSA maintained buy call on the stock with a target price of Rs 950. The large cap stock touched a fresh high of Rs 823.5, rising 2.97% against previous close on BSE. CLSA said after the significant outperformance of steel stocks over the past year, the brokerage saw further upside as risk-reward remains favourable.

Tata Steel stock hits 52-week high after CLSA raises target price

11: 40 am:  Kalpataru Power share rises 2%

Kalpataru Power share rises over 2% after the firm won new orders of Rs 625 crore.  The stock rose to Rs 387 against previous close of Rs 378.35 on BSE.

11:20 am: SpiceJet share price rises 2% on MoU with Avenue Capital Group

SpiceJet share price rose over 2 percent on March 31 after the airline signed a memorandum of understanding with New York-based Avenue Capital Group for financing, acquisition and sale and lease-back of up to 50 aircraft.

10:30 am : Sensex slides 473 points to 49,663, Nifty down 111 points to 14,734.

10:00 am: Market insight from Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services

"As FY 21 - a painful disater for humanity but, paradoxically, beneficial for global stock markets - come to a close, there is hope and optimism in the air. Even though Covid cases are rising in many areas, it is clear that in the race between the vaccine & the pandemic, the vaccine would win. Economies would rebound smartly in FY 22. But markets have already discounted this and valuations are high. But this is unlikely to deter the bulls in the short run. Today being the last day of FY 21, DIIs are likely to buy aggressively  to push up the NAVs of their mutual fund schemes. Their focus is likely to be IT, private sector financials, cement, pharma and select FMCG stocks which are expected to report good Q4 results."

9:40 am: Nazara Technologies shares fall 9% on profit booking

After making stellar stock market debut on Tuesday, shares of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Nazara Technologies dropped over 9 per cent in opening trade on Wednesday as investors resorted to profit booking at elevated levels. Nazara Technologies shares opened lower at Rs 1,489 against previous close price of Rs 1,576.80 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock fell as much as 9.19 per cent to hit low of Rs 1,431.85, while market cap slumped to Rs 4,654.26 crore. Meanwhile, the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading 0.87 per cent lower at 49,702.

Also read: Why Nazara Technologies shares fell 9% in opening trade

9:15 am: Sensex, Nifty open lower

Indian benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, opened lower on Wednesday, snapping two sessions gaining streak, tracking weak cues from Asian market. The BSE Sensex opened lower by 347 points, or 0.69 per cent, at 49,789, and the NSE Nifty belled at 14,811, down 33 points or 0.22 per cent. Developments related to COVID-19, stock-specific news and global cues will set tone for the market in this holiday-shortened week. After remaining closed on Monday for Holi, the stock market would remain closed on Friday for Good Friday.

9:10 am: Sensex trades lower in pre-market session

In the pre-opening session, the BSE Sensex was trading 87 points or 0.17 per cent lower at 50,049, indicating a negative start at Dalal Street.

8:45 am: Top traded quantity from NSE on Tuesday

Top traded volumes on NSE Nifty were Tata Motors Ltd. 45,257,627, State Bank of India 39,407,496, NTPC Ltd. 36,130,210, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. 31,843,605, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd. 29,997,550. 

8:30 am: Total share traded and turnover on BSE and NSE

On the BSE, total number of shares traded was 33.01 crore and total turnover stood at Rs 3,781.13 crore on Tuesday. On the NSE, total number of shares traded was 28.36 crore and total turnover stood at Rs. 68,474.40 crore. 

8:05 am: Future and Options statistics from NSE

On NSE Future and Options, total number of contracts traded in index futures on Tuesday was 3,70,744 with a total turnover of Rs. 35,292.90 crore. Along with this, total number of contracts traded in stock futures were 6,01,652 with a total turnover of Rs. 55,822.99 Crore. Total numbers of contracts for index options were 20,392,756 with a total turnover of Rs. 1,954,888.54 crore and total numbers of contracts for stock options were 1,047,840 with a total turnover of Rs. 98,860.88 crore.

7:50 am: FIIs investment trend

The foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned net buyer in both equity and debt market on Wednesday. The net investment of equity and debt reported were Rs 395.01 crore and Rs 861.11 crore.   

7:45 am: Asian markets edge lower

Asian markets were trading on mixed note, with Japan's Nikkei 225 was down by 0.5 per cent. The China's Shanghai Composite also fell by 0.13 per cent, while the Hong Kong's Hang Seng was trading 0.79 per cent higher.

7:40 am: US stocks ended lower on Tuesday

Wall Street ended in negative terrain in overnight trade, weighed down by sell-off in tech-related stocks as well as rise in US bond yields. The Dow Jones Industrials closed 0.34 per cent lower, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell 0.53 per cent and 0.82 per cent, respectively.

7:35 am: Stocks in focus

Shares of Bharat Electronics, UltraTech Cement, HPCL, NTPC, IDFC First Bank, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Tata Power, TCS, Rana Sugars, Karnataka Bank, L&T, BHEL will be in focus in Wednesday's trading session.

7:30 am: Weak cues from SGX Nifty indicates negative opening for Sensex, Nifty

Weak trading at Singapore Nifty futures indicated a negative start at Dalal Street on Wednesday. At 7:30 AM, the Nifty futures were trading 18.75 points or 0.13 per cent lower at 14,920 on the Singapore Stock Exchange.

Indian equity benchmarks BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended higher for the second straight session on Tuesday amid broad-based buying. The BSE 30-share barometer, Sensex, closed higher by 1,128 points, or 2.3 per cent, at 50,136, and the NSE Nifty settled at 14,845, up 337 points or 2.33 per cent. All the sectoral indices ended in the green, with IT and Teck index emerging as top gainers, rising 3 per cent, each.  NTPC, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Infosys, Titan Company, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), Nestle India, ONGC, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid Corporation of India were among top Sensex gainers. Out of 30 Sensex pack, 27 ended in green, while Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank settled in the red.