Markets nosedive on broad-based selloff; Sensex slips 600 pts, Nifty 50 below 17k; IT, FMCG, Metals weigh

25 Apr 2022 , 09:41 AM

Indian markets reported a gap-down opening on Monday tracking weakness in global markets as investors remain concerned about aggressive tightening of monetary policy after US Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s hawkish statements.

At home, heavy selloff in IT, metal, FMCG and pharma stocks pushed benchmarks Sensex and Nifty 50 off the cliff. Sensex has dipped to as much as below 56,600 and Nifty 50 even erased 17,000-level.

At around 09:43 AM, Sensex was trading at 56,589.92 below 607.23 points or 1.06%. Nifty 50 performed at 16,977.25 lower by 194.70 points or 1.13%.

On Nifty, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank, Hero MotoCorp, Maruti and Eicher Motors were top gainers.

BPCL, Britannia, Hindustan Unilever, Apollo Hospitals and Tech Mahindra plunged between 2-4%.

Quarterly results that are expected today include Tatva Chintan Pharma Chem, Tata Investment Corporation, Century Textiles & Industries, Eveready Industries India, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation, Mahindra CIE Automotive, Meghmani Finechem, Arihant Capital Markets, Artson Engineering, Automotive Stampings & Assemblies, Axita Cotton, Divyashakti, Maharashtra Scooters, Snowman Logistics, Steel Exchange India, Sylph Technologies, Triveni Enterprises, and VTM.

Further, ICICI Bank emerged as top gainers in Nifty 50 post Q4 results. The country’s second-largest private sector lender reported a 59.4 per cent year-on-year growth in standalone profit at Rs7,019 crore in the quarter ended March 2022 following a sharp fall in provisions and a jump in operating profit.

FMCG stocks will be in focus today as Godrej Consumer, HUL and Britannia Industries shed 3-5% each after Indonesia’s ban on palm oil exports shocked global edible oils markets that already reached record high prices this year. This may have cascading effect on  India’s edible oil prices as well and sparked alarm among major importers of the cooking medium.

On the global front, US markets see the biggest selloff since October 2020 as Dow Jones falls nearly 1000 points while Nasdaq closes lower by 2.5%. 

Furthermore, Asian indices opened weakly with the Japanese ‘Nikkei’ trading lower by 400 points in reaction to the US selloff. Other Asian markets were also trading lower as markets await the Federal Reserve rate action due on May 04 coupled with large technology stocks earnings due this week.