The Indian stock market ended lower on Tuesday, November 4, as a lack of fresh triggers, profit booking at higher levels, and continued selling by overseas investors weighed on the frontline indices.
The modest earnings announcements by select heavyweights also dampened sentiment, causing the Nifty 50 to decline 0.64% to 25,597 levels, while the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.62% to 83,459.
The broader markets also mirrored the key indices, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index dropping 0.40% and the Nifty Smallcap 100 index ending with a sharper cut of 0.90%.
Today’s sell-off was broad-based, with all key sectoral indices closing lower. The Nifty Metal index emerged as the top laggard, falling 1.38%, followed by Nifty IT and Nifty Auto, which declined 1.04% and 0.82%, respectively.
Other sectoral indices such as Nifty Realty, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty Media also closed lower by over 0.50%.
The consumer durables index was the only one to end in the green, posting a gain of 0.46%.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said, “Indian equity markets ended lower, tracking weak global cues and broad-based selling, particularly across IT, metal, and power sectors. Investor sentiment remained subdued ahead of the holiday-shortened week. FIIs extended their selling streak for the fourth consecutive session, as rising U.S. bond yields and waning expectations of a near-term Fed rate cut curtailed risk appetite.”
Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, said, ” Indian markets ended lower, mirroring the sharp sell-off in global equities, as diverging remarks from US Federal Reserve officials on the pace of future rate cuts reignited risk aversion across global markets. The uncertainty surrounding the Fed’s policy path further dampened investor sentiment, triggering broad-based profit booking across key Asian and European markets.”
Weak earnings drag Blue Jet Healthcare, CDSL, and Dr. Lal PathLabs lower
Blue Jet Healthcare led the losers’ list, with the stock falling 10% to ₹606 apiece as investors appeared disappointed with the company’s September quarter performance, which showed a 20.6% decline in revenue to ₹165.4 crore and an 11% fall in net profit to ₹52 crore. Its margin contracted marginally to 33.1% from 33.3% in the year-ago period.
Central Depository Services (India) Ltd (CDSL) shares also cracked 3.5% to ₹1,539 after analysts downgraded the stock post its Q2 results, while Dr. Lal PathLabs reacted negatively to the earnings, with the stock dropping 3% to ₹3,153.70.
Reliance Power and Reliance Infrastructure also ended lower, losing 7% and 5%, respectively. Meanwhile, profit booking continued in another heavyweight counter, with the stock tanking another 4.4% to ₹3,632 apiece.
Multibagger Transformers & Rectifiers extended its losing streak to the fourth straight session, slipping 6% to ₹419 apiece. Capri Global Capital too remained under pressure for the fourth consecutive session, falling another 3% to ₹197.
Two-wheeler major Hero MotoCorp also came under pressure, plunging 4.3% to ₹5,303 after its domestic dispatches dropped 8% to 604,829 units in October. On a year-to-date basis, wholesale dispatches were lower by 3.2%, at 3,486,604 units versus 3,598,069 units in the corresponding period last year.
Other stocks such as KFin Technologies, Home First Finance, NCC, Ather Energy, Solar Industries India, PVR INOX, Swan Energy, Bharat Dynamics, Wockhardt, and Gland Pharma were also among the Nifty 500 laggards, each closing over 3% lower.
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