The domestic equity benchmarks ended with deep cuts on Tuesday. The Nifty closed below the 18,150 mark. Selling was wide spread with autos and metals declining the most. As per provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, slumped 554.05 points or 0.90% to 60,754.86. The Nifty 50 index lost 195.05 points or 1.07% to 18,113.05. In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 2.20% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index declined 1.92%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1157 shares rose and 2273 shares fell. A total of 83 shares were unchanged.

Investor sentiment was dented as Brent crude firmed up in the international markets to over seven-year high on worries about possible supply disruptions after Yemen's Houthi group attacked the United Arab Emirates. The attack has escalated hostilities between the Iran-aligned group and a Saudi Arabian-led coalition.

The media reported that Union Finance Minister N Sitharaman will hold a press conference at 4.30 pm today, 18 January 2022.

COVID-19 Update:

In last 24 hours, India registered 2,38,018 new COVID-19 infections in a day taking the tally to 37,618,271, according to the Union Health Ministry data on Tuesday. The country reported 310 new deaths taking the death toll to 4,86,761. The country recorded 1,57,421 recoveries, taking the total number of recoveries to 3,53,94,882. The active cases comprise 4.62% of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has decreased to 94.09%, the ministry said.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index fell 2.37% to 11,600.15. The index had advanced 2.05% to end at 11,881.25 yesterday.

Maruti Suzuki (down 4.20%), Eicher Motors (down 3.67%), Ashok Leyland (down 2.76%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.54%), TVS Motor Company (down 2.32%), Bharat Forge (down 2.22%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.96%) and Hero MotoCorp (down 0.32%) declined.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Tata Motors fell 2.61% to Rs 511.30. The company has announced a marginal price hike on its passenger vehicles. Effective 19 January 2022, an average increase of 0.9% will be implemented, depending on the variant and model, the auto maker said.

Ramkrishna Forgings declined 2.12% to Rs 1022. The company's standalone net profit surged to Rs 45.12 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 16.67 crore in Q3 FY21. Revenue from operations increased by 50.70% YoY to Rs 606.05 crore during the quarter. Further, the company's board has approved 5-for-1 stock split.

ICICI Securities slipped 1.71% to Rs 809.25. The company reported a 42.4% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 380.3 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 267 crore posted in Q3 FY21.

Tata Steel Long Products slumped 5.21% to Rs 780.25 after the company's net profit declined 65.8% to Rs 103.8 crore in Q3 FY22 from Rs 304.3 crore posted in Q3 FY21.

Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem tumbled 8.82% to Rs 2614.90. The company reported a 9.2% increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 22.8 crore on a 31% jump in net sales to Rs 104.6 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21. Sequentially, however, the company's net profit and net sales have declined by 29.7% and 15.4%, respectively.

Tech Mahindra slipped 3.41% to Rs 1662.90. The IT major announced 100% acquisition of Com Tec Co IT (CTC) for 310 million euros, including earnouts and synergy linked payouts. Tech Mahindra is also investing a cumulative amount of 20 million euros, in SWFT and Surance, for a 25% ownership in each of these two InsurTech ventures funded by the same founding group as CTC.

Angel One rose 1.48% to Rs 1377.10. The company reported consolidated profit at Rs 164.6 crore in Q3FY22 against Rs 73.2 crore in Q3FY21. Total income surged 92.4% to Rs 607.10 crore from Rs 315.6 crore YoY.

Hathway Cable & Datacom slipped 2.80% to Rs 22.60 after the company's consolidated net profit declined 45.76% to Rs 33.93 crore on 2.89% rise in net sales to Rs 455.03 crore in Q3 December 2021 over Q3 December 2020.

HFCL slumped 7.57% to Rs 22.60 after the company's consolidated net profit fell 4.71% to Rs 81.10 crore on a 4.86% decline in revenue from operations to Rs 1,215.21 crore in Q3 FY22 over Q3 FY21.

Global markets:

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Tuesday as global investors remain attuned to the policy direction of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the start of corporate earnings season.

Global markets have been focused of late on assessing the potential speed and trajectory at which the Fed will move to hike interest rates and tighten its ultra-loose pandemic-era monetary policy. The central bank's increasingly hawkish tone has led to a rise in bond yields, which spiked again on Tuesday and roiled risk assets.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) left monetary policy unchanged. The BOJ upgraded its inflation forecasts at its policy meeting on Tuesday, but as inflation is set to remain well below its 2% target in the coming years, it stressed its resolve to maintain its ultra-loose monetary settings. The central bank also revised up next fiscal year's growth forecast and offered a more upbeat view on the economy than three months ago.

Chinese President Xi Jinping cautioned against a rapid rise in interest rates on Monday that could derail the global recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, is due to release its monthly oil market report on Tuesday where traders are likely to watch for signs that global oil demand has been affected by the surge in Covid cases around the world.