SENSEX plunges over 800 points; IndiGo, Bandhan Bank, Paytm among buzzing stocks

The Indian equity benchmarks extended losses in noon deals on the back of a broad-based selloff in afternoon trading. The SENSEX fell as much as 818 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 25,041 dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like Eternal, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Reliance Industries, InterGlobe Aviation and Maruti Suzuki.

As of 2:45 pm, the SENSEX dropped 670 points at 81,635 and NIFTY50 index declined 204 points to 25,086.

The sharp decline in profit came on account of exceptional expense of ₹1,546 crore in October-December period.

The exceptional expense included ₹969 crore set aside for implementation of new labour codes and ₹577 crore for operational disruptions it faced in December, IndiGo said in a regulatory filing.

Bandhan Bank's net profit in October-December period fell 52% to ₹206 crore from ₹426 crore in the same period last year. However, on a sequential basis net profit jumped 84% from ₹112 crore in the year-ago period.

The Kolkata-based lender's net interest income or the difference between interest earned on loans and expended on deposits fell 4.5% to ₹2,688 crore compared with ₹2,814 crore in the year-ago period.

The bank's asset quality showed improvement in during the quarter as its gross non-performing assets (NPAs), as a percentage of total advances, came in at 3.33% at the end of December quarter compared with 4.68% in the same period last year.

Global investment firm CLSA said that Bandhan Bank's Pre-Provision Operating Profit (PPoP) was 8% higher than its estimates driven by in-line core total income and lower-than-expected core operational expenditure.

CLSA added that credit costs were not higher because of slippages but they were higher because bank sold a ₹3,200 crore bad loan portfolio to an asset reconstruction company (ARC).

The company's revenue from operations rose 12.3% in the December quarter to ₹4,002.57 crore, as compared to ₹3,561.33 crore in the year-ago period.

"Over the next few months, I will be putting in a STRONG and COMPETITIVE bid for RCB, one of the best teams in the IPL," Poonawalla wrote on his official 'X' handle.

RCB (Royal Challengers Bengaluru) is currently owned by United Spirits Ltd (USL).

"Royal Challengers are the defending IPL champions and, perhaps, have the biggest fan base among the 10 teams in the league," said a PTI report.

Tanla Platforms reported net profit of ₹131 crore in Q3, marking an increase of 11% from ₹119 crore in the year-ago period.

Its revenue from operations advanced 12% to ₹1,121 crore from ₹1,000 crore in the same period last year.

Precious metals made new records in the international markets as the ‌dollar traded around the lows of the year. Gold rallied for a fifth day, gaining 0.3% to $4,951.47 per ounce, while silver was up 1.7% at $97.85 per ounce, according to a report by Reuters.

In domestic market silver futures on MCX surged to an all-time high of ₹3,39,927 per kilogram.

As many as 6 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE compared with an average of 98,000 shares traded daily in the past two weeks.