Stock Market breaks 4-day Losing Streak; Bajaj Finance Top Gainer, Bajaj Auto Top Loser

The Indian stock market broke a four-day losing streak, closing higher with the Nifty hovering around 22,150. By the end of trading, the Sensex surged 599.34 points or 0.83 percent to reach 73,088.33, while the Nifty gained 151.20 points or 0.69 percent, closing at 22,147. Among the traded shares, 1576 advanced, 1770 declined, and 95 remained unchanged.

In terms of sectors, both the Bank and Metal indices saw a 1 percent increase, while the FMCG index rose by 0.5 percent. However, sectors such as healthcare, IT, power, and realty witnessed declines ranging from 0.3 to 0.6 percent, according to a moneycontrol.com report.

The ongoing tensions between Iran and Israel led to another week of outflows from global equities. Emerging markets were particularly affected, experiencing a significant outflow of USD 2.1 billion over six months, compared to USD 1.8 billion in the previous week. Notably, China, South Korea, and Brazil recorded the largest outflows. In contrast, India’s dedicated funds received inflows of USD 450 million this week, maintaining an average of around USD 550 million over the past four months.

Top Nifty50 Gainers

• Bajaj Finance: 3.15 percent
• Mahindra & Mahindra: 2.92 percent
• HDFC Bank: 2.64 percent
• Maruti Suzuki: 2.30 percent
• JSW Steel: 2.27 percent

Top Nifty50 Losers

• Bajaj Auto: -2.48 percent
• Nestle India: -1.32 percent
• Divis Labs: -1.32 percent
• HCL Tech: -1.16 percent
• Larsen & Toubro: -1.07 percent

Asian Markets

Taiwan’s Weighted Index led losses in Asia on Friday, falling 3.81% and closing at 19,527.12, its lowest level in over a month as most major markets in the region fell amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 2.66 percent, paring earlier losses and ending at 37,068.35, while the broad-based Topix fell 1.91 percent to 2,626.32. On a weekly basis, the Nikkei shed 3.65 percent, according to CNBC.com report.

European Markets

European stocks dropped to their lowest levels in more than one month on Friday after a ramp-up in the Middle East conflict spooked investors, while L’Oreal’s shares rose as the French cosmetic giant’s quarterly sales trounced estimates. The continent-wide STOXX 600 was down 0.7% with most sectors in the red. Indexes across major European economies such as Germany, France, Italy, and Spain dropped between 0.7 percent and 1.2 percent, according to a Reuters report.

Also read: What is Initial Public Offer (IPO)?

Stocks in News

Hindustan Zinc

Hindustan Zinc Ltd (HZL), a firm within the Vedanta group, has reported a 21 percent year-on-year decline in its net profit for the fourth quarter, amounting to Rs 2,038 crore. This dip came amid a global downturn in zinc prices, which has impacted HZL’s performance adversely, given that demand growth has been slower compared to the pace of supply expansion.

Comparing this quarter’s performance to the same period in the previous year, HZL witnessed a drop in consolidated net profit from Rs 2,583 crore to Rs 2,038 crore. However, there was a marginal increase of 0.5 percent in net profit sequentially, rising from Rs 2,028 crore in the third quarter to Rs 2,038 crore in the fourth.

Bajaj Auto

Bajaj Auto exhibited robust financial performance in the fourth quarter, surpassing market expectations. However, despite this positive outcome, its shares experienced a decline of over 3 percent to Rs 8729.35 on April 19. It was also the top Nifty50 loser. This downward trend stemmed from concerns regarding the stock’s price, which had already exceeded brokerage target estimates, leading to perceived overvaluation.

Although brokerages commended the stellar earnings report for January-March, many maintained a ‘sell’ rating on Bajaj Auto, citing target prices significantly lower than the current market value. There’s a prevailing caution regarding the sustainability of the stock’s upward momentum, as analysts anticipate a gradual erosion of its recent gains, attributing this to the fact that most of the positive factors have already been factored into the price.

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