SENSEX, NIFTY50 edge lower on profit booking dragged by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Thursday, April 16, as investors resorted to profit booking after surging over 9% so far this month, analysts noted. The SENSEX fell as much as 1,055 points from the day's highest level while NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,103 after hitting an intraday high of 24,400 earlier in the session. Index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank and State Bank of India.

The SENSEX ended 123 points lower at 77,989 and NIFTY50 index declined 35 points to close at 24,197.

Asian markets ended higher as investor sentiment improved on expectations of a deal between United States and Iran to end the war and restore operations at the Strait of Hormuz.

Japan's Nikkei rose 2.5%, China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.7% and South Korea's KOSPI surged 2.2%.

Sectoral landscape

Nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) ended higher led by the NIFTY Metal index's 1.5% gain. NIFTY IT, Realty, Consumer Durables and Media indices also rose between 0.2% and 0.8%.

On the other hand, NIFTY Bank, Financial Services, PSU Bank and Private Bank indices closed lower.

Mid- and small-cap shares outperformed their larger peers as NIFTY Midcap 100 index rose 0.63% and NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.9%.

Among the individual shares, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) shares surged 20% to ₹747 amid spike in trading activity.

Trading volume surged by 16 times to 5.15 crore shares compared with an average trading volume of 31.61 lakh shares.

Sonata Software shares surged more than 14% fuelled by strong value buying interest from investors as the stock staged a breakout past its last week’s high, according to NSE data.

NIFTY50 top gainers and losers

HDFC Bank was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock declined 2% to close at ₹794. ONGC, HDFC Life, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti airtel, Apollo Hospitals, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Hindustan Unilever between 0.9% and 1.65%.

On the flip side, Adani Enterprises was top gainer in the NIFTY50 index, the stock rose 3% after Jefferies after global investment firm Jefferies in a note said that its copper and road business will see a ramp up during the current financial year. The investment firm added that renewable energy segment is emerging as a key growth driver amid strong energy-security tailwinds.

Hindalco gained 2.85% after aluminium prices jumped on the MCX.

Trent, Eternal, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, Larsen & Toubro, Tata Steel and Infosys were also among top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,147 shares ended higher while 1,089 closed lower on the NSE.