The key equity benchmarks traded with major losses in the morning trade as foreign outflows and mixed earnings dampened sentiment. Concerns over the Union Budget 2025 and Trump's 25% tariff on Colombian goods added to market jitters. The Nifty slipped below the 22,900 mark. Media shares extended losses for the second consecutive trading session.
At 10:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 760.63 points or 0.98% to 75,429.83. The Nifty 50 index fell 237.10 points or 1.03% to 22,855.20.
The broader market underperformed the frontline indices. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 2.85% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 4.22%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 520 shares rose and 3,233 shares fell. A total of 160 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
India’s forex reserves dropped by $1.88 billion to $623.983 billion in the week ended January 17, the RBI said on Friday.
The forex reserves had increased to an all-time high of $704.885 billion in end-September.
For the week ended January 17, foreign currency assets, a major component of the reserves, decreased by $2.878 billion to $533.133 billion, the data released on Friday showed.
Gold reserves increased by $1.063 million to $68.947 billion during the week. The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up by $01 million to $17.782 billion, the RBI said.
India’s reserve position with the IMF was down by $74 million at $4.122 billion in the reporting week, the data showed.
Result Today:
Coal India (down 1.68%), Tata Steel (down 1.36%), ACC (down 1.16%), Canara Bank (down 0.98%), Union Bank of India (down 2.03%), Adani Total Gas (down 1.54%), Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC (down 6.91%), Apollo Pipes (down 2.07%), Adani Wilmar (down 3.36%), Bajaj Housing Finance (down 2.80%), Emami (down 3.03%), Federal Bank (down 0.76%), Indraprastha Gas (down 1.11%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 2.17%), Kaynes Technology India (down 5.66%), Mahindra Logistics (down 1.32%), The New India Assurance Company (down 4.81%), Piramal Enterprises (down 6%), Petronet LNG (down 2.54%), RailTel Corporation of India (down 3.57%), Sundram Fasteners (down 2.64%), Welspun Specialty Solutions (down 2.84%), and Wonderla Holidays(down 3.29%) will announce their quarterly earnings later today.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Media index declined 4.25% to 1,573.50. The index tumbled 6.74% in two consecutive trading sessions.
Saregama India (down 6.06%), Tips Music (down 5.24%), Den Networks (down 4.93%), Network 18 Media & Investments (down 4.13%), Dish TV India (down 4.04%), Zee Entertainment Enterprises (down 3.79%), Nazara Technologies (down 3.55%), PVR Inox (down 2.22%), Sun TV Network (down 2.21%) and Hathway Cable & Datacom (down 1.65%) declined.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Yes Bank rallied 2.36% after the company reported a 164.52% surge in standalone net profit to Rs 612.27 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 231.46 crore posted in Q3 FY24. The bank’s total income jumped 14.20% YoY to Rs 9,341.15 crore in the quarter ended 31 December 2024.
ICICI Bank added 1.66% after the company’s standalone net profit increased 14.81% to Rs 11,792.42 crore on 13.03% rise in total income to Rs 48,367.87 crore in Q3 FY25 over Q3 FY24.
JK Cement rose 0.31%. The company’s consolidated net profit slipped 33.2% to Rs 189.62 crore in Q3 FY25, compared to Rs 283.81 crore recorded in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations marginally fell 0.2% to Rs 2,930.28 crore in Q3 FY25 as against Rs 2,934.83 crore reported in the same period a year ago.