Sensex Falls 660 pts at Midday; HCL Tech Plunge Fuels IT Rout on Iran Concerns 

Mumbai, April 22: Indian stock indices were trading in the negative zone in Wednesday’s mid-session trade tracking downbeat cues from global markets and sharp fall in tech bellwether HCL Tech’s shares amid growing concerns over ceasefire between US and Iran after the former extended truce till further notice.

The 30-share BSE barometer Sensex fell 659.09 points or 0.83% to 78,614.24 and Nifty 50 dropped 162.85 points or 0.66% to 24,413.75 as of 11:50 am, both struggling near their day’s lows as selling continued through the morning. Markets opened with sharp losses at the beginning of Wednesday’s session with Sensex gap-down over 550 points at the open after HCL Technologies reported poor set of quarterly earnings led to huge selling in the IT stocks, wiping out most of the 750 points gain by Sensex on Tuesday.

Gainers

Tata Consumer Products was the top gainer in the morning session it hit a high of ₹1,183 and currently at last trading price (LTP) ₹1,177.10 ₹1,142, up 3.07%, its low was at ₹1,139.80. Nestle India hit a high of ₹1,425.20 and at LTP ₹1,414 ₹1,379.90, up 2.47%, its low was at ₹1,386. Hindustan Unilever ₹2,379.90 gained 2.47% touching a high of ₹1,379.90 and at LTP ₹2,367.80. The previous close was ₹2,310.70, its low was at ₹2,310.40. NTPC hit a high of ₹406.25 and at LTP ₹405.35 ₹396.20, up 2.31%. Its low was at ₹393.20. Mahindra & Mahindra Financial (TMPV) hit a high of ₹364.75 and at LTP ₹364.40 ₹355.90, up 2.39%.

Laggards

HCL Technologies was the miserable performer of the morning trade session it hit a low of ₹1,287.10 and at LTP ₹1,288.60 ₹1,441.20, down 10.59%. Its high was at ₹1,358 at open. Tech Mahindra hit a low of ₹1,412.60 and at LTP ₹1,413.10 ₹1,500.80, down 5.84%. Infosys hit a low of ₹1,257.50 and at LTP ₹1,259 ₹1,313.20, down 4.13%. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) hit a low of ₹2,531.80 and at LTP ₹2,533 ₹2,610.50, down 2.97%. SBI Life hit a low of ₹1,880 and at LTP ₹1,885.20 ₹1,911.60, down 1.38%.

Iran News Update

Markets, meanwhile, continued to track cues from the evolving geopolitical crisis between the US and Iran as American President Donald Trump announced that ceasefire has been extended till further notice late on Tuesday. Iran said it will not talk to US after Trump remarks. Iran agreed to ease up on its position after Pakistan mediated talks between Iran and US. Trump on Tuesday said ceasefire has been extended.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency, which is linked to Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards military force that US imposed sanctions on earlier this month, took to Twitter to pour scorn on Trump’s ceasefire announcement. “Iran has never asked to extend the ceasefire” the state-run news agency added. Iran also repeated its warnings from earlier this week that it will “break the Iranian-American economic siege by force.”

Oil Prices

Brent crude futures eased about 0.5 percent to around $98 a barrel by Wednesday’s noon trade while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude traded near $89 a barrel. “Oil prices were broadly steady after gaining in the previous session as doubts lingered about whether Iran would accept peace talks with Washington.”
Market experts said that unless Iran formally accepts peace talks with US, crude oil prices will refuse to give up much of the ground it has gained over the past few sessions.

Asian Market

Asian markets were trading with mixed order in Wednesday’s noon session as Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was trading lower by 1.37 percent to 26,123 and Australia’s ASX 200 lost 1.12 percent to 9,074. Japan’s Nikkei Average index was trading higher by 0.42 percent to 59,600 and Shanghai was trading higher by 0.29 percent to 4,096.

Rupee Vs Dollar

The Indian rupee weakened on Wednesday along with other oil-sensitive Asian currencies as energy prices remained on the boil amid lingering uncertainty about the trajectory of the Iran war, ‌despite an indefinite ceasefire extension. The rupee declined to an intra-day low of 93.8450 per dollar, its weakest level since March 30, before recovering slightly to 93.75, down 0.3% versus its previous close.

Sources:

• https://www.nseindia.com/get-quote/equity/NESTLEIND/Nestle-India-Limited
• https://www.bseindia.com/index.html