A bird flies past a screen displaying the Sensex results on the facade of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in Mumbai. File
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Rising for the fifth straight session, equity benchmark Sensex rallied nearly 500 points to reclaim the 74,000 mark while the Nifty closed above the 22,550 level on April 25, driven by heavy buying in banking, financial and metal stocks.

Recovering after a sell-off in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 486.50 points or 0.66% to settle at 74,339.44. During the day, it surged 718.31 points or 0.97% to 74,571.25.

The NSE Nifty advanced 167.95 points or 0.75% to 22,570.35.

From the Sensex basket, Axis Bank jumped 6% after the company reported a consolidated net profit of ₹7,599 crore during the March 2024 quarter.

State Bank of India, NTPC, Nestle, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra and HCL Technologies were among the other major gainers.

Kotak Mahindra Bank tanked 10.85% after the RBI barred the company from onboarding customers online and issuing credit cards.

Cracking down on repeated non-compliance with IT norms, the RBI on Wednesday barred Kotak Mahindra Bank from onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels and issuing fresh credit cards with immediate effect after the regulator found “serious deficiencies” in the lender’s IT risk management.

Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and Asian Paints were the other laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo settled lower while Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. Wall Street ended on a mixed note on April 24.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.06% to $88.07 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹2,511.74 crore on April 24, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark rose 114.49 points or 0.16% to settle at 73,852.94 on April 24. The NSE Nifty advanced 34.40 points or 0.15% to 22,402.40.

File picture of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in Mumbai. Image for representation
| Photo Credit: SHASHI ASHIWAL

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell in early trade on Tuesday as volatility persisted amid mixed trends in global markets.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a positive note and climbed 116.42 points to 71,188.91 points. However, it soon took a U-turn and fell 129.92 points to 70,942.57 points.

Showing a similar trend, the broader Nifty rose 14.80 points to 21,630.85 points initially but lost ground and declined 63.25 points to 21,552.80 points.

In the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, PoweGrid and Wipro were among the major losers while ICICI Bank, NTPC, ITC and Kotak Bank were trading in the green.

BSE smallcap index fell 1.65%, midcap index dropped 0.57% and largecap index slipped 0.12%.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said midcap and smallcap stocks are likely to see a sharp fall as many such scrips are excessively valued.

“Correction will give opportunities to buy fairly valued stocks in this segment like PSU banks,” he noted.

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 and China’s Shanghai Composite were trading in the positive territory while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was in the red.

European markets ended Monday’s session in the green with CAC 40 of France and DAX of Germany rising 0.55% and 0.65% respectively.

On Monday, the US market ended on a mixed note.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.09% to $82.07 a barrel on Tuesday.

On Monday, Sensex settled 523 points or 0.73% lower at 71,072.49 points while the Nifty closed 166.45 points or 0.76% down at 21,616.05 points.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Monday as they bought equities worth ₹126.60 crore, according to exchange data.

Paytm shares plummet

Shares of payments firm Paytm dropped 8.5% to a record low of ₹386.25 on Tuesday after brokerage Macquarie downgraded the stock, citing the “serious risk of exodus of customers” following the Indian central bank’s action against its banking arm.

Moving customers from Paytm Payments Bank to other banks by the February 29 deadline set by the Reserve Bank of India is “an arduous task,” as it would require customers to submit Know Your Customer (KYC) details again, Macquarie added.

Lending partners are re-evaluating their relationship with Paytm, which could potentially lead to a decline in lending business revenue if partners scale down or terminate their collaboration with Paytm, the note said.

The Reserve Bank of India’s January 31 order directing a wind-down of Paytm’s banking arm has resulted in the stock plummeting more than 49% and has eroded nearly $2.9 billion of shareholder wealth.

The RBI will not review its recent regulatory action taken against Paytm Payments Bank, Governor Shaktikanta Das

Representational image
| Photo Credit: PTI

Equity benchmark indices climbed in early trade on Monday in line with firm trend in global markets and encouraging domestic macroeconomic data.

Fresh foreign fund inflows also added to the optimistic trend in the domestic equity market.

Extending its previous day’s rally, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 243.69 points to 65,630.85 in early trade. The Nifty went up by 91.5 points to 19,526.80.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Tech Mahindra were the major gainers.

ICICI Bank, Nestle, Asian Paints and Power Grid were among the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading with gains.

The US markets ended mostly in the positive territory on Friday.

Manufacturing activities in India gained momentum in August as new orders and output increased at the quickest rates in nearly three years, according to a survey released on Friday.

GST collections grew by 11% to over ₹1.59 lakh crore in August on the back of improved compliance and reduced evasion, with experts forecasting higher mop-up to continue in the upcoming festive season.

Domestic passenger vehicle sales hit a record in August led by highest-ever monthly dispatches from Maruti Suzuki on the back of festive demand and the continued strong offtake of SUVs.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.05 per cent to $88.59 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were buyers on Friday as they bought equities worth ₹487.94 crore, according to exchange data.

The BSE barometer had on Friday ended higher by 555.75 points or 0.86% at 65,387.16. The Nifty had spurted by 181.50 points or 0.94% to settle at 19,435.30.