Bear attack

Nifty50: 17,173 ▼ 302 (-1.7%)
Sensex: 57,166 ▼ 1,172 (-2.0%)

• The markets started the week with a sharp plunge amid strong selling in IT and banking stocks. 
• In all, 26 of the Nifty50 stocks closed in the red.
• The wholesale price index rose to 14.5%, staying in double digits for the twelfth straight month.

Among the Nifty sectoral indices, FMCG (+0.6%) and Auto (+0.4%) were the top gainers, while IT (-4.5%) and Financial Service (-2.2%) were the top losers.

Did you know?

You can now place Good-Till-Triggered (GTT) orders on the new Upstox app. To know more about GTT orders, click here.

For more updates on F&O, click here.

Here are the top stories of the day.

Heavyweights go tumbling

Nifty50 titans Infosys and HDFC Bank saw their shares tumble after they announced lacklustre fourth quarter earnings. Infosys’ net profit declined by 2.1% to ₹5,686 crore. Meanwhile, its revenue rose 1.3% to ₹32,276 crore, below street estimates. 

Meanwhile, HDFC Bank’s net profit stood at ₹10,055 crore, lower than the street estimates of ₹10,270 crore. The management has said that the future outlook of the company is positive as there are signs of speedy economic recovery.

Cars get pricey

Car buyers, get ready to shell out more for the next car you purchase. Auto majors Maruti Suzuki and M&M have announced price hikes across their models. While M&M hiked prices by 2.5% on 14 April, Maruti cars will  cost 1.3% more from 18 April.

No prizes for guessing why vehicles are getting costlier. Yes, it's due to the rising prices of commodities like steel and aluminium. On their part, though, the auto firms have tried to absorb some of the rises in input costs, and according to M&M, it has passed on "a minimal percentage of cost increase to customers".

Jubilant Ingrevia on a high

Jubilant Ingrevia’s shares rose after it landed a new specialty chemical business deal from an international pharmaceutical client. The three-year long CDMO (contract development and manufacturing organisation) contract is worth ₹270 crore.

The contract requires the drug maker to supply two GMP (good manufacturing practice) intermediates for one of the client’s patented drugs. Both the products go through a 7-step specialised chemistry and will be commercially supplied starting FY23.

IPO corner

As far as IPOs are concerned, the government seems to be rolling out the red carpet for foreign investors. According to reports, the government has amended the Foreign Exchange Management Act, allowing up to 20% foreign direct investment in the IPO-bound LIC. This comes after the cabinet’s approval in February. For more details on the LIC IPO click here.

Good to know

What is a poison pill?

Recently, there were reports that Twitter has taken a "poison pill" to thwart Elon Musk's hostile takeover attempt. What does it mean? A poison pill plan is a defensive tactic used by a company's board of directors against a potential takeover. It gives the right to existing shareholders to buy more shares at a discount if one new or hostile party buys a certain percentage of shares in the company. For instance, if one investor buys 15% or more of shares in a company, all other shareholders will get a right to buy a new issue of shares. This would dilute the hostile party's interest in the company, thus avoiding a takeover situation.

Click here to join us on Telegram for trading and investment-related videos, daily market updates, details on upcoming IPOs and more.

Yay 👍 or Nay 👎?

We'd love your thoughts on this market recap.

Haven't tried out Upstox yet? Click here to open your account now!