Market Wrap, January 8: SENSEX, NIFTY50 end flat with negative bias ahead of TCS Q3 results; 148 stocks hit 52-week high

Besides, investors look toward the FOMC minutes for fresh momentum, while the Fed's hawkish stance and elevated US bond yields remain significant headwinds.

IT bellwether Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is slated to announce its December quarter (Q3 FY25) result tomorrow, thus officially kickstarting the third quarter earnings season.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 78,148.49, down 50.62 points, or 0.06%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index settled at 23,688.95, down 18.95 points, or 0.08%.

The market trend was in favour of declines as out of 4,066 stocks traded on the BSE, 2,586 declined, and 1,386 advanced, while 94 stocks remained unchanged.

As many as 148 stocks hit their 52-week highs on the BSE, while 101 scrips slipped to their one-year lows.

Further, seven stocks on the BSE hit their upper circuit limit, and three touched their lower circuit bands.

Top gainers and losers

Out of 50 components in the NIFTY50 index, 28 declined, and 22 gained, while 1 scrip remained unchanged.

On the other hand, Apollo Hospitals, Trent Ltd, UltraTech Cement, Shriram Finance, and Bajaj Auto were the top five losers.

Buzzing Stocks

Jefferies said RIL underperformed the Nifty 50 index by 15% in 2024 over concerns surrounding the medium-term growth prospects for its retail business and lower earnings growth in the current financial year.

However, the brokerage, as per news reports, sees the restoration of mid-teens growth in Reliance Industries' retail business, a potential listing of Reliance Jio, and better profitability in the Oil-To-Chemicals (O2C) business in the financial year 2026.

The stock of the consumer durables sector company has jumped nearly 171% in the past 12 months on consistent key deals, order wins, and terrific financial performance.

The fall in the company's shares on Wednesday was in line with the overall market trend.

Sector Watch

Consumer durable and industrial stocks were the biggest losers on the BSE.

The BSE CONSUMER DURABLES index ended at 64,119.47, down 1,215.34 points, or 1.86%, while the BSE Industrials index settled at 14,622.78, down 213.29 points, or 1.44%.

Broader Market

The BSE MidCap index ended at 45,643.66, down 502 points, or 1.09%, while the BSE SmallCap index settled at 54,661.63, down 620.85 points, or 1.12%.