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Sensex falls 352 points to 73,246 as Brent tops $115 and IT stocks slide; Jio debut and L&T cushion fall
The Sensex fell 352.64 points, or 0.48%, to 73,246.03 and the Nifty lost 50.90 points to 22,698.85 on Wednesday as Brent crude rose above $115 after a refinery attack in Saudi Arabia and IT and oil stocks fell about 2%. L&T gained 3.7% after its results. The rupee closed at 95.23 to the dollar.
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The Sensex fell 352.64 points, or 0.48 per cent, to close at 73,246.03 on Wednesday, 28 October, and the Nifty 50 lost 50.90 points, or 0.22 per cent, to end at 22,698.85. Investors sold information technology and oil and gas shares as Brent crude rose above 115 dollars a barrel after an attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, and they waited for the decision of the US Federal Reserve, which came after the Indian market had closed. The debut of Jio Platforms was the main event of the day, but it did not lift the indices.
How the market moved
The market opened lower. The Sensex was down 345.23 points at 73,253.44 at the start, and the Nifty opened at 22,708.80. A market analyst at Choice Broking said that the sharp opening gap, elevated crude prices and the Fed's policy decision could keep volatility high, and that the Nifty's ability to stabilise near key support levels would decide whether early weakness attracted buyers or extended the decline.
Breadth was close to even at the close, with 2,178 stocks advancing, 1,957 declining and 185 unchanged. Smaller companies did better than the large ones, with the Nifty Midcap index up 0.4 per cent and the Nifty Smallcap index up 0.9 per cent.
Sectors
| Sector | Move |
|---|---|
| Nifty IT | down about 2% |
| Nifty Oil and Gas | down about 2% |
| Realty, energy and FMCG | down about 0.5% each |
| Auto, consumer durables, media and pharma | up about 1% each |
The biggest gainers and losers
Among the stocks in the Nifty 50, the biggest gainers were Apollo Hospitals, which rose 4.43 per cent to Rs 8,137, Larsen & Toubro, up 3.72 per cent to Rs 3,801.30 after its second-quarter results, Trent, up 3.31 per cent to Rs 2,913.90, SBI Life Insurance, up 2.06 per cent to Rs 1,666.70, and InterGlobe Aviation, up 2.03 per cent to Rs 4,690. Bajaj Auto rose 0.91 per cent to Rs 10,485 after its results.
The losers were led by the technology companies. Infosys fell 3.43 per cent to Rs 1,123.15, Tech Mahindra 1.92 per cent to Rs 1,776.60, TCS 1.48 per cent to Rs 2,460 and HCL Technologies 1.37 per cent to Rs 1,400.50. Reliance Industries fell 3.19 per cent to Rs 1,158 on the day its subsidiary Jio Platforms listed. ONGC fell 2.16 per cent to Rs 224.89 and Bharti Airtel 1.55 per cent to Rs 1,948.10.
Brent crude rose above 115 dollars a barrel after the attack on a refinery in Saudi Arabia, a level that weighs on India, which imports most of its crude oil. US crude futures were quoted near 102 dollars in a separate report that day. The rupee closed at 95.23 against the dollar, 11 paise weaker than the previous close of 95.12.
Foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 4,240.39 crore on Tuesday, 27 October, while domestic institutions sold Rs 1,250.03 crore, according to the figures reported at the opening on Wednesday.
Jio Platforms listed at Rs 1,358, a premium of about 21.4 per cent on the issue price of Rs 1,119, and ended the day at Rs 1,419 on the National Stock Exchange. The issue had drawn bids worth about 77 billion dollars, and the listing valued the company at about 131.5 billion dollars. It became the second most valuable listed company in India after its parent, Reliance Industries. Jio Financial, Yes Bank and Vodafone Idea were among the most traded stocks.
Elsewhere in the markets, gold prices fell by Rs 646 to Rs 1.43 lakh per 10 grams on weak demand. Reliance Industries, which owns Jio Platforms, fell on the day its subsidiary listed, and the fall in its own share price took some of the shine off the debut for investors who hold the parent. Jio Platforms will now have to show in its first results as a listed company that its growth justifies the valuation it was given.
The Fed announced after the Indian close that it had left interest rates unchanged, and Asian markets will react to that on Thursday. Jio Platforms will announce its results for the September quarter on 30 October. Investors will also watch the price of crude oil, which affects the rupee, inflation and the earnings of oil marketing and aviation companies.
Market figures differ slightly between sources, and readers should check closing values on the exchanges' own websites. This article is for information and is not investment advice.
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