Stock Market Today: Sensex, Nifty Sees Biggest Single Day Fall in 18 Months; Banks Bleed

The Indian stock market crashed on January 17, its biggest single-day fall in the last one and a half years. At close, Sensex tumbled 1628 points at 71500 while Nifty fell 460 points and ended the session at the 21571 mark.

Among sectors, except Information Technology, all other indices ended in the red. The Bank index dipped 4 percent. Auto, metal, oil & gas, and realty were down 1-2 percent. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices shed 1 percent each.

Weak global sentiments amid geopolitical tensions along with concerns over delay in rate cuts after US Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller warned that a pivot in the monetary policy may come slower than anticipated.

The Fed’s comments also led to a spike in yields on the US 10-year treasury bonds to back above 4 percent along with a rise in the dollar index to a month’s high.

Top Nifty50 Gainers

Top Nifty50 Losers

Asian markets end in the red.

All Asian markets including the Nikkei, Hang Seng, and Kospi ended in the red on January 17. At close, Nikkei shed 0.4 percent at 35,477 while Hang Seng crashed 3.86 percent at the 15,276 mark. Kospi was down 2.53 percent at 2,435 levels.

Also read: Why HDFC Bank Share Price Crashed? Biggest Single Day Fall In 3 Years

European markets trade lower

Following Asian cues, European markets were trading in the red in the opening session on January 17. FTSE shed 1.55 percent at 7,441 while CAC fell 1.11 percent at 7,316. German DAX was down 0.97 percent at 16,410 level.

Stocks that moved the most

HDFC Bank: down 8.31%

HDFC Bank‘s share price nose-dived on January 17, 2024. It witnessed its biggest single-day fall in three years, a day after December quarter earnings. The country’s largest private sector bank recorded a 33 percent YoY increase in net profit. It amounts to Rs 16,372 crore, including a one-time tax rate gain. During the same quarter, the bank’s net interest income (NII) saw a 24 percent YoY rise to Rs 28,470 crore. Meanwhile, the bank’s provisions surged by 50 percent to Rs 4,216 crore.

HDFC Bank witnessed its non-performing assets (NPAs) increase to 1.26 percent in Q3 FY24, up from 1.23 percent in the last fiscal year. However, its net NPA decreased to 0.31 percent from 0.33 percent during this period.

As a result, the HDFC Bank stock witnessed a market cap erosion of approximately Rs 95,000 crore. After the bank declared its Q3 earnings, the HDFC Bank ADR closed down over 6 percent in the US markets. The share price closed at $61, its biggest single-day drop since April 2022.

MRF: down 1.46%

In the afternoon session, MRF’s share price reached the Rs 1,50,000 mark, marking its sixth consecutive trading session of gains on the stock exchanges. At this point, MRF became the most expensive Indian stock. However, the stock declined due to weak market conditions and concluded the session at Rs 1,34,600.05 on NSE.

PTC Industries: up 3.07%

The share price of PTC Industries surged by 10 percent but eventually closed with a gain of 3 percent amid weak market conditions after the company’s subsidiary, Aerolloy Technologies, signed an agreement with France-based Dassault Aviation to supply titanium casting parts. Aerolloy Technologies will manufacture a full range of titanium casting parts for the Rafale multirole fighter aircraft and the Falcon business jet program.

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