The benchmark indices opened weak at the start of trade on January 21. The Sensex was down 564.36 points or 0.95 percent at 58,900.26. The broader Nifty was down 160.30 points or 0.90 percent at 17,596.70. About 806 shares have advanced, 1289 shares declined, and 89 shares are unchanged.
Among major losers on the Nifty were Bajaj Finance (-1.70 percent), Infosys (-1.57 percent), Bajaj Finserv (-1.50 percent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-1.29 percent), and IOC (-1.20 percent). Among gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid (+0.42 percent) and Hindustan Unilever (+0.25 percent)
Nifty ended lower for the third consecutive session on Jan 20, despite Asian markets doing well. At close, Nifty was down 1.01 percent or 181.4 points at 17757. In the process Nifty was the worst performing index in the Asian region.
On a day when the Nifty fell for the third session, advance decline ratio ended in the positive. This suggests some stability in the broader markets though the frontline stocks continue to face the brunt of selling pressure from institutions. Nifty could now find support at 17614 while 17879 could act as a resistance in the near term.
Stocks to watch out for
With results of companies such as Reliance Industries, HDFC Life Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company, JSW Steel, Bandhan Bank, CSB Bank, Gland Pharma, Hindustan Zinc, IDBI Bank, Vodafone Idea will be closely tracked to see market movements.
Asian stocks down
Asian stocks fell Friday after a late-day reversal on Wall Street that pushed the technology-heavy Nasdaq 100 into a correction. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.8 percent, and Japan's Nikkei slid 1.66 percent, Reuters said.
Oil prices fell sharply and were on track for their first weekly loss this year. "The selloff of U.S. stocks yesterday was brutal and will dominate Asia this morning," said Rob Carnell, chief economist at ING in Singapore.
Nasdaq futures were down 1 percent in Asian trading, hurt by Netflix Inc forecasting weak first-quarter subscriber growth after the close. The moves extended to Chinese shares with the Hong Kong benchmark losing 0.24 percent after posting its best day in six months the day before and Chinese blue chips losing 0.5 percent also after gains the day before.
US stocks close negative
US stock indexes gave up an early session rebound and turned negative in the final hour of trading Thursday, repeating Wednesday’s volatile pattern and pushing the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite further into correction territory this week. The drop started when CNBC reported that Peloton was halting production for February and March to adjust for lower demand. That news, at around 12:45 PM, pushed the stock down 24 percent on the day, and sent chills through the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 313.26 points, or 0.89 percent, to 34,715.39, the S&P 500 lost 50.03 points, or 1.10 percent, to 4,482.73 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 186.24 points, or 1.3 percent, to 14,154.02. Of 11 major S&P 500 sectors, 10 finished lower, with the consumer discretionary sector falling 1.9 percent. Utilities eked out a 0.1 percent gain.
After the bell, shares of Netflix dropped sharply after the company fell short of Wall Street forecasts for new subscribers at the end of last year and offered a weaker-than-expected forecast for early 2022.
US first-time jobless claims soars
In US economic data Thursday, first-time jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 55,000 last week to 286,000, compared with expectations for 225,000, likely reflecting the effect of the spread of the omicron variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, Reuters said. The Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing index rose to 23.2 in January from 15.4 in December.
US Treasury yields down
US Treasury yields were slightly lower along the curve on Friday, having risen sharply earlier in the week as investors positioned themselves for the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will tighten monetary policy more aggressively to stave off inflation. Yields on benchmark 10-year notes were last at 1.7791 percent, their lowest in a week, having hit a two-year high of 1.902 percent on Wednesday.
Results today
The following companies will release their quarterly results today: Reliance Industries, HDFC Life Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company, JSW Steel, Bandhan Bank, CSB Bank, California Software, Elixir Capital, Gland Pharma, Gokaldas Exports, Heritage Foods, Hindustan Zinc, IDBI Bank, Vodafone Idea, Inox Leisure, Jyothy Labs, Kajaria Ceramics, L&T Finance Holdings, Max Ventures and Industries, Oriental Aromatics, Pioneer Distilleries, PNB Gilts, Polycab India, PVR, Ramco Industries, RattanIndia Power, Share India Securities, Supreme Petrochem, Supriya Lifescience, Tanla Platforms, Vinyl Chemicals, and Wendt (India).
(With additional inputs from Reuters, agencies)
