SENSEX drops 450 points, NIFTY50 below 25,000; Kotak Bank falls 4% after Q3 earnings

The Indian equity benchmarks fell sharply lower on Tuesday, January 27, ahead of monthly expiry of January futures and option contracts due later in the day. The SENSEX fell as much as 449 points and NIFTY50 index broke below its important psychological level of 25,000 and touched an intraday low of 24,932 dragged down by losses in Mahindra & Mahindra, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Eternal, Maruti Suzuki and Bharti Airtel.

As of 9:25 am, the SENSEX was down 424 points at 81,113 and NIFTY50 index dropped 112 points to 24,936.

Asian markets were trading higher on Tuesday as investors were betting for a strong set of earnings from US mega-cap companies. Meanwhile, uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump’s latest tariff moves on South Korea limited broader gains while boosting gold and silver, according to a report by news agency Reuters.

Japan's Nikkei rose 0.2%, Australia's S&P/ASX 200 index gained 1.08%, Hing Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.06% and South Korea's KOSPI jumped 1.5%.

Overnight, US stocks ended higher on Monday with Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.64%, S&P 500 index climbing 0.5% and tech heavy Nasdaq surging 0.43$.

Gold prices climbed to record levels above $5,100 on Monday, as investors sought a safe haven amid international political tension, and silver and platinum also scaled all-time highs.

Back home, selling pressure was broad based as ten of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the NIFTY Auto index's 1.45% fall. Nifty Media, FMCG, Realty, Consumer Durables, Bank and Financial Services indices also declined between 0.4%-2%.

On the flipside, metal, state-run lenders and information technology shares were witnessing buying interest.

Broader markets were also facing selling pressure as NIFTY Midcap 100 index declined 0.4% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index dropped 0.45%.

Among the individual shares, Granules India shares rose as much as 4% to hit an intraday high of ₹587 after its net profit rose 28% to ₹150 crore from ₹118 crore in the year ago period.

NIFTY50 gainers and losers

Kotak Mahindra Bank was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 5% to an intraday low of ₹400 after it reported a 4% increase in profit to ₹3,446 crore in the third quarter of current financial year.

Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors PV, Cipla, Max Healthcare, Eternal, Shriram Finance and HDFC Bank also fell between 1%-4%.

On the flipside, Axis Bank advanced 3.77% to ₹1,305 after it reported a 4% growth in its December quarter net profit to ₹7,010.65 crore against ₹6,742.99 crore in the year-ago period.

On a standalone basis, the third-largest private-sector lender's net profit for the October-December period increased to ₹6,489.57 crore from ₹6,303.77 crore in the year-ago period.

Adani Enterprises, Ultratech Cement, Adani Ports, Hindalco and JSW Steel were among gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,505 shares were declining while 1,282 were advancing on the NSE.