Markets halt winning streak; Sensex below 59,300, Nifty 50 near 17,700; Auto stocks outperform; Maruti, ITC, Titan top bulls; HDFC dives 2% after Q3

3 Feb 2022 , 10:15 AM

Indian markets halted their winning spree on Thursday’s opening bell as the excitement of the Budget 2022 settled in and focus further shifted to corporate earnings. Benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 took a breather from their two-week highs, however, the quantum of the downside was at a slower pace.

At home, investors were upbeat on auto stocks, while most selling was carried in IT and Banking stocks. ITC, Titan and Lupin stock will be in focus ahead of their Q3 earnings scheduled later in the day.

Asian markets were split into two patterns with some indices trapped in profit booking as previous days rally calmed and some indices catching up with the global trends after a midweek break. Seoul and Singapore markets were up over 2%, while Tokyo, Sydney, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta slipped. Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei are still closed due to holidays. Most other markets will reopen on Monday after the Lunar holidays with a reaction to overseas cues as the US markets see a sharp comeback.

Wallstreet extended its gains for another day which supported in paring overall January month losses. However, technology stocks that boosted the previous rally on Wall Street, weakened after Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta Platform’s earnings and guidance missed street’s estimates that led to a drop in Nasdaq futures.

At around 10.15 am, Sensex was trading at 59,287.76  lower by 270.57  points or 0.45%. The benchmark has touched an intraday high and low of 59,557.87 and 59,203.12 respectively.

Nifty 50 performed at 17,707.95 below 72.05  points or 0.41%. The index has clocked an intraday high and low of 17,781.15 and 17,679.65 respectively.

In terms of sectoral indices, on BSE, the IT index shed nearly 360 points and the Bankex dived 145 points. Capital Goods dropped nearly 255 points. On the contrary, the Auto index climbed nearly 385 points.

Bulls on Sensex were – Maruti Suzuki (+3%), ITC (+1.5%), Titan (+1%) followed by M&M, Asian Paint, Tata Steel and NTPC with gains between 0.5-1%.

On the bears front, HDFC took lead on Sensex declining over 2% after its Q3 earnings. Stocks like L&T, Infosys, Kotak Bank and Tech Mahindra fell between 1-2%.

Other stocks like Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Wipro, HCL Tech, Nestle, HUL, Dr Reddy’s Lab and IndusInd Bank were also under pressure.