Sensex, Nifty50 edge lower amid negative global cues: Realty, metal and auto stocks decline

• Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 edged lower in morning trade on Friday amid negative cues in global markets.
  
• Realty, metal and auto stocks declined while FMCG and media stocks edged up.
  
• Both the benchmark indices were down 0.1%, with Sensex at 59,579 points and Nifty50 at 17,596 points.

Indian benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty50 edged lower in morning trade on Friday amid negative cues in global markets. Realty, metal and auto stocks declined while FMCG and media stocks edged up.

Both the benchmark indices were down 0.1%, with Sensex at 59,579 points and Nifty50 at 17,596 points.

Top gainers and losers on Nifty50

Source: NSE, as on April 21, 2023

Earlier on Thursday, markets snapped a three-day losing streak to close in the green, with Sensex gaining 0.11% and Nifty50 gaining 0.3%.

HCL Tech delivered its Q4 results on Thursday, with results in line with analyst expectations. While its attrition cooled down in line with that of its peers TCS and Infosys, it also guided for 6-8% revenue growth, nearly half of its FY23 growth of 13.7%.

Global markets in the red

Markets in the US closed in the red on Thursday, with Dow Jones declining 0.33% while S&P 500 fell 0.6%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 0.8%.

Asian markets were largely in the red, too, on Friday morning. KOSPI declined the most at 0.72%, while Hang Seng was a close second with a fall of 0.67%. Shanghai Composite was down 0.54%, while Taiwan Weighted was down 0.24%. Nikkei 225 was flat.

Gold prices edged up a little to INR 60,508 per 10 grams ahead of the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya which sees an increase in purchase of the yellow metal. Crude oil prices continued to cool down, with Brent crude now hovering around the $81 per barrel level.

Stocks to watch

HCL Technologies: The IT company’s revenue grew 13.7% in FY23 in constant currency terms and also met its FY23 revenue forecasts as it had guided it to be anywhere between 13.5-14%. Its operating margin fell sharply in Q4 to 18.1% in Q4 from 19.6% in Q3.

ICICI Life Insurance: The insurer has reported a 27% growth in net profit at ₹235 crore as compared to ₹185 crore in the previous year period aided by a strong growth in value of new business.

Vedanta: Billionaire Anil Agarwal owned company has pledged 2.44% stake in group company Hindustan Zinc to raise ₹1,500 crore as it is struggling to meet its debt obligations. With this, Vedanta’s pledged shares in Hindustan Zinc rose to 91.35% or about 59.3% of the company’s overall shares.

Rail Vikas Nigam: The consortium of the company and Siemens received two separate orders from Gujarat Metro Rail for phase 1 of Surat Metro and phase 2 of Ahmedabad metro.

Earnings today: Reliance Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Aditya Birla Money, Tejas Networks, Bheema Cements, Metalyst Forgings among companies to report March quarter earnings today.

SEE ALSO:

HCL Tech projects its revenue to grow between 6-8% in FY24

Here are the many ways you can invest in gold this Akshaya Tritiya

5 companies that will drive Nifty’s earnings in Q4