Stock Market Today: Nifty, Sensex Log Worst Fall In 14 Sessions

-The local currency closed 17 paise lower against the U.S. Dollar at 83.35.

-It closed at 83.18 on Tuesday

Source: Cogencis

Benchmark equity indices continued falling in the fourth consecutive day and recorded their biggest fall in 14 sessions on Wednesday.

The Nifty closed at 22,703.95, down 184.20 points or 0.80% and the Sensex closed at 74,502.90, lower by 667.55 points or 0.89%. This is the worst fall for both the indices since May 9.

"The Bears showed their presence with a steep fall in the opening trade itself. In the mid-session, minor recovery was seen but that was quickly fizzled out as another round of selling took place which dragged the Index below 22,700," said Aditya Gaggar, Director of Progressive Shares.

"On the daily chart, Nifty has breached its immediate support of 22,780 but considering the monthly expiry day tomorrow, we feel that a short covering move will bring the Index above the triangle pattern breakout point i.e. 22,780," he added.

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., and Infosys Ltd. dragged the Nifty.

Whereas those of Hindalco Industries Ltd., Power Grid Corp. Of India, ITC Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., and Divi's Laboratories Ltd minimised the losses.

Most sectoral indices ended lower with Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank falling the most.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday. The S&P BSE Midcap fell 0.38% and the S&P BSE Smallcap rose 0.23%.

On BSE, 13 sectors declined, and seven advanced out of 20. The S&P BSE Bankex declined the most, and the S&P BSE Healthcare and Telecommunication were the leading sectors.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,127 stocks declined, 1,693 stocks rose, and 109 remained unchanged.

• Net profit at Rs 663 crore vs Rs 326 crore

• Margin at 16.9% vs 10.1%

• EBITDA at Rs 524 crore vs Rs 211 crore

• Revenue at Rs 3,104 crore vs Rs 2,079 crore, up 49.3%

• Margin at 21% vs 16.8%

• Net profit at Rs 220 crore vs Rs 257 crore, down 14.7%

• EBITDA at Rs 438 crore vs Rs 469 crore , down 6.6%

• Revenue at Rs 2086 crore vs Rs 2,796 crore, down 25.4%

• Margin at 10.8% vs 9.2%

• EBITDA at Rs 2,935 crore vs Rs 2,061 crore, up 42.4%

• Revenue at Rs 27,058 crore vs Rs 22,517 crore, up 20.2%

• Net profit at Rs 1,444 crore vs Rs 699 crore

Incorporates wholly-owned subsidiary Thermax Chemical Solutions Pvt

Source: Exchange Filing

• Revenue at Rs 2,936 crore vs Rs 2,903 crore, up 1.1%

• EBITDA at Rs 402 crore vs Rs 353 crore, up 13.8%

• Margin at 13.7% vs 12.2%

• Net profit at Rs 304 crore vs Rs 68 crore

Home Minister Amit Shah said that market volatility should not be attributed solely to the ongoing elections, as it is a normal phenomenon.

"A drop of 300-400 points after a rise of 1,200-1,300 points is a normal occurrence and happens 15-20 times a year, even without elections," Shah said in an interview with NDTV Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia.

Credit rating agency S&P Global on Wednesday revised India's outlook to 'positive' from 'stable'.

Adds GenAI capabilities to its maintenance, repair & overhaul solution for enterprise clients

Source: Exchange filing

Approves issuing up to 86.5 lakh shares via QIP

Source: Exchange filing

The scrip rose as much as 3.4% to Rs 698.7, its lifetime high. It pared gains to trade 3.2% higher at Rs 703.35 as of 12:29 p.m. This compares to a 0.69% decline in the Nifty.

India's benchmark equity indices declined through midday on Tuesday, tracking losses in shares of ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. The market continues to be anxious as the country awaits the declaration of the 2024 general elections on Tuesday, June 4.

At 11:44 p.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was 166.30 points or 0.73% lower at 22,721.85, and the S&P BSE Sensex was 585.99 points or 0.78% down at 74,584.46. Intraday, the NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.80% to 22,705.60, and the S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.84% to 74,539.56.

"In the last three sessions, the market has shown a bullish trend in the first half, followed by profit booking in the second half. Additionally, the India VIX continued to rise, gaining 4% yesterday to surpass 24. This stock market turbulence may persist until the election results are announced," said Shrey Jain, founder and chief executive officer of SAS Online.

"For the Bank Nifty, we believe the 49,000 level will act as immediate support, given the substantial open interest in the 49,000 put, which holds approximately 26 lakh shares. On the upside, 49,500 is expected to serve as a resistance area, with the 49,500 call strike holding a nominal open interest of around 36 lakh shares," Jain said. 

ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., and Axis Bank Ltd. weighed on the benchmark.

Power Grid Corp, Hindalco Industries Ltd., Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., and Adani Enterprises Ltd. limited losses in the benchmark.

On NSE, eight sectors were trading in negative, two were flat and two were positive. The NSE Nifty Finance declined the most, while the NSE Nifty Media rose the most.

Broader markets were trading on a mixed note. The S&P BSE Midcap fell 0.35%, and the S&P BSE Smallcap rose 0.09%.

On BSE, 17 sectors declined, and three advanced out of 20. The S&P BSE Bankex declined over 1% to become the loser sector. The S&P BSE Consumer Durables was the best performing sector.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,1012 stocks declined, 1,551 stocks advanced, and 150 stocks remained unchanged.

Launches AI-powered platforms iCPX and iAPX for corporate procurement and accounts payable processes

Source: Exchange filing

Submits term sheet to independent directors of Ebix to acquire 100% stake in the company as a member of the consortium led by Eraaya Lifespaces

Source: Exchange filing

Hindware Home Innovation Ltd.'s shares tumbled nearly 10% Wednesday after the company's net profit almost halved year-on-year in January-March period.

Its consolidated net profit declined 88% on the year to Rs 2.73 crore in the quarter ended in March from Rs 22.75 crore.

Shares of Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corp. extended losses in the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday as its net profit for the quarter ended March missed expectations.

Out of the nine analysts tracking the company, four maintain a 'buy' rating, two recommend a 'hold,' and three suggest a 'sell,' according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies a downside of 12.4%.

Total unexecuted order book stands at Rs 2,600 crore

Source: Exchange Filing

Gets 551.25 MW order for 3 MW series wind power project from Aditya Birla Group.

Source: Exchange Filing

Today, it hit an intraday high of Rs 4,430, before erasing gains to trade 0.23% lower at Rs 4,381.85. This compares to a 0.56% decline in the Nifty.

PNB Housing Finance Ltd. tumbled to two-week low after its 1.026% equity changed hands in two large trades.

The housing finance company's 26.65 crore shares changed hands in two bunch trades. The average price of the block deals are Rs 728 per share. The total value of the two block deals is Rs 193.8 crore, according to date available on Bloomberg.

PNB Housing Finance Ltd. declined 8.10% to Rs 724.00, the lowest level since May 14, 2024. It pared losses to trade 6% lower at Rs 740.60 as of 10:04 a.m., as compared to 0.43% decline in the NSE Nifty 50 index.

The scrip gained 53.13% in 12 months, and declined 5.57% on year to date basis. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 617 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 44.05.

Out of 12 analysts tracking the company, 10 maintain a 'buy' rating, and two suggest 'sell', according to Bloomberg data. The average 12-month consensus price target implies an upside of 26.3%.

MTAR Technologies Limited reported its results on Tuesday. Q4FY24 revenue was up by 20.8% QoQ, while net profits decrease by 54%. The company reported FY24 revenue of Rs.581 crore which was below the guided number of Rs.610 crore. Ebitda margin also missed the guidance of 24% versus reported figure of19.4%.

The management attributed the miss in margins to deferment of orders in Clean Energy segment and delay in execution of projects in the Space vertical.

The scrip rose as much as 4.99% intraday, its upper circuit limit to Rs 359.45 apiece, the highest level since Tuesday as of 9:39 a.m. This compares to a 0.32% decline in the NSE Nifty 50.

It has fallen 43.43% on a year-to-date basis and 48.45% in the last twelve months. Total traded volume so far in the day stood at 0.17 times its 30-day average. The relative strength index was at 50.16.

Earlier, today the company called reports of Gautam Adani buying stake in the company 'speculative'.

Shares of Brigade Enterprises Ltd. rose to the highest level since its listing on bourses after the company's net profit more than trebled in January-March.

Benchmark equity indices opened lower, extended losses in the fourth consecutive session, as HDFC Bank, M&M dragged.

At pre-open, the Nifty was at 22,762.75, down 125.40 points or 0.55% and the Sensex fell 220.05 points or 0.29% to 75,170.45.

"Stronger-than-expected May US consumer confidence and hawkish commentary remarks from Fed’s officials pulled down European, Asian and US Index futures," said Vikas Jain, senior research analyst at Reliance Securities.

"We believe the market is consolidating due to an extended upmove from 21800 levels, said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities. "On the downside, 22800 -22750/74900-74700 would be the key support zones while 23050-23100/75500-75700 could be the key resistance zone."

Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., and Reliance Industries Ltd. dragged the Nifty.

While those of Bharti Airtel Ltd., ITC Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries minimised the losses.

All sectoral indices on the NSE fell with Nifty Auto losing the most while Nifty IT fell the least.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of sellers. Around 1,464 stocks fell, 1,328 rose and 112 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Broader markets outperformed. The S&P BSE Midcap fell 0.18% and the S&P BSE Smallcap was 0.19% higher.

Eight of the 20 sectoral indices on the BSE rose and twelve fell. S&P BSE Auto fell the most and S&P BSE Telecommunication was the top gainer.

At pre-open, the Nifty was at 22,762.75, down 125.40 points or 0.55% and the Sensex fell 220.05 points or 0.29% to 75,170.45.

• The yield on the 10-year bond opened 2 bps higher at 7.01%.

• It closed at 6.99% on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• The local currency weakened by 4 paise to open at 83.22 against the U.S dollar.

• It closed at 83.18 on Tuesday.

Source: Bloomberg

• News of Gautam Adani being in talks with Vijay Shekhar Sharma for Paytm stake is 'speculative'

• Company not engaged in any discussion about stake sale to Gautam Adani

Source: Exchange filing

• Maintains 'Buy', Target of Rs. 770, upside 13%

• Hindalco's fully owned subsidiary, Novelis, has announced the price band for its IPO of 45 million shares t US $18-21/share.

• This implies Novelis' market cap of US $10.8-12.6 billion and proceeds of US $810-945 million for Hindalco.

• This implies a valuation (FY25CL EV/Ebitda) of 7.7x-8.6 times for Novelis

• Novelis would now become a separate subsidiary, investors could consider assigning a holdo discount for Hindalco's stake

• We value Novelis at 6.5 times in Hindalco's SOTP given no cash requirement at the parent, use of the proceeds would be key to watch for.

• IMF lifts China growth forecast to 5% from 4.6% citing fast start to 2024 & additional support from the government

• Expects momentum to continue, raises GDP forecast for next year to 4.5% from 4.1%

Source: Bloomberg

• Reiterates Buy on LIC; TP: 1270 (+25%)

• New product launches to support growth in the non-par segment

• Expect the VNB margin to improve (~19% by FY26)

• APE share of the non-Par segment improves

• LIC aspires for a 5-6% business share from the banca channel from 3.4% currently

• Levers in place to maintain its industry-leading position and ramp-up growth in the highly profitable product segments

• Expect operating RoEV to remain modest at 11.5% in FY26

• TP based on 0.8x FY26E EV

• Target price Rs 1,255 (+24%) vs 1295 earlier

• Maintains Buy on LIC

• Business mix shifting in favour of non-par

• Largely driven by momentum in individual savings business

• We expect non-par mix to increase to ~30% by FY2027E

• Expect margins to compress in non-par business to ~45% in FY2027E from ~61% in FY2024

• Margin compression in individual non-par led by competitive and pricing pressure

• Q4 revenue impacted by moderating demand

• Expect near term moderate growth trends, recoverly only likely in H2FY25

• Potential drivers: premiumization, supply agility program, increased productivity

• Remain positive on medium-term growth prospects

• Raise FY25-26 earnings estimates on higher profitability in IPL franchisee

• Bank to send SMS alerts only for transactions above Rs 100 (sent/paid) and Rs 500 (received)

• New transaction alert policy to be effective June 25

• Customers to continue receiving email alerts for all UPI transactions

Source: Bank communication to customers

• Rated accumulate with target price of Rs 472; upside 5%

• Q4 ahead of estimates on all counts, driven by gross margin expansion.

• Liquidated high-cost inventory by Q2; gave it tremendous cost edge in Q4

• Raw material purchases in Q4 at competitive price; may lead to benefits in H1FY25.

• Expects gross margin expansion of 90–100 bps in FY25.

• Top-line growth of 3.5%, led by 34% growth in exports.

• Expects exports to ramp-up.

• FY25 to be a turnaround year driven by volume growth and margin expansion.

• Company to have lower raw material costs and operating leverage benefit.

• Revenue at Rs 2,164 crore vs Rs 2,632 crore, down 18%

• Ebitda at Rs 828 crore vs Rs 682 crore, up 21%

• Margin at 38.2% vs 25.9%

• Net profit at Rs 236 crore vs Rs 505 crore, down 53%

Emkay maintains 'buy' on Oil India at Rs 800 target (22% upside)

• Pipeline connectivity in the Northeast to support gas-production growth

• Management hopeful of premium pricing applicable on incremental gas

• NRL expansion on schedule, to be completed without any cost overrun

• Rs 7,200 crore petchem capex expected to start from July for three years at NRL

Motilal Oswal maintains 'Buy' on Oil India at Rs 775 target (19% upside)

• Management maintains production target of 9 million tonnes of oil equivalent by FY26

• Oil production expected to ramp up to 3.8 MT/over 4 MT in FY25/FY26

• Gas production is likely to be 5 billion cubic metres by FY26.

• Numaligarh refinery slated to start in December 25

• Most of valuation re-rating upside is behind now

• Volume delivery to be key to sustaining outperformance

• Raises production volume assumptions for FY25/FY26 by 2%/3%

• Timken Co. sold 50 lakh shares worth $230 million, thus reducing its stake in Timken India to 51.05%

• Timken Co. plans to use net proceeds from the transaction to support its 2024 capital-allocation priorities.

• Net impact from transaction to be accretive to the company’s EPS in 2024

• Timken Co. intends to maintain controlling interest in Timken India and plans no further sale transactions

Source: SEC filing

AdaniConneX completes acquisition of Terravista Developers for Rs 296 crore

Source: Exchange filing

• Raises target price to Rs 1,200 vs 1055 earlier (upside 16%)

• Adjusted revenue/PAT beat its estimate by 2%/10%, led by higher gRevlimid and RoW markets

• India formulations (adjusted) were muted.

• Agrochem too was hurt by poor crop season

• US pipeline promising; international markets in focus

• Selectively looking for opportunities; long-term play

• Raise core business PAT by 20%

• Valuing Natco using SoTP

• US Dollar Index at 104.69

• US 10-year bond yield at 4.55%

• Brent crude up 0.23% at $84.41 per barrel

• Nymex crude up 0.34% at $80.10 per barrel 

• Bitcoin was down 0.55% at $68,618.06

• The GIFT Nifty was 39 points or 0.17% down at 22,826.00 as of 07:19 a.m.

• Nifty May futures down by 0.25% to 22,937.25 at a premium of 49.1 points.

• Nifty May futures open interest down by 15%.

• Nifty Bank May futures down by 0.34% to 49,182.8 at a premium of 40.65 points.

• Nifty Bank May futures open interest down by 20.12%.

• Nifty Options May 30 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 24,000 and maximum put open interest at 22,500.

• Bank Nifty Options May 29 Expiry: Maximum call open interest at 50,000 and maximum put open interest at 48,000.

• Securities in ban period: Aditya Birla Fashion, Biocon, Hindustan Copper, Vodafone idea, Piramal Enterprises.

• Price Band Change from 20% to 10%: Bharat Dynamics.

• Ex/record dividend: Trident, CMS Info Systems.

• Moved out of short-term ASM framework: Honeywell Automation India, Ram Ratna Wires.

• Hatsun Agro Product: Promoter R G Chandramogan created a pledge for 63.72 lakh shares on May 27.

• Inox Wind: Inox Wind Energy Ltd. sold 5.5 crore shares (16.87%) at Rs 150.58 apiece while Morgan Stanley Asia Singapore Pte bought 83.16 lakh shares (2.54%) at Rs 150 apiece, Okoworld Okovision Classic bought 35 lakh shares (1.07%) at Rs 150 apiece, Goldman Sachs (Singapore) Pte bought 26 lakh shares (0.79%) at Rs 150 apiece and BNP Paribas Arbitrage bought 16.5 lakh shares (0.5%) at Rs 150 apiece, among other buyers.

• Aarti Drugs: Blend Fund 2 bought 5.11 lakh shares (0.55%) at Rs 484.97 apiece, while Mirik Rajendra Gogri sold 4.68 lakh shares (0.5%) at Rs 485.5 apiece.

• Concord Biotech: Ontario Inc sold 35.48 lakh shares (3.39%) at Rs 1,361.26 apiece, while Norges Bank on Account of The Government Pension Fund Global bought 6 lakh shares (0.57%) at Rs 1,386.95 apiece.

• Timken India: Timken Singapore Pte sold 50 lakh shares (6.64%) while Government of Singapore bought 28.49 lakh shares (3.78%), Nippon India Mutual Fund bought 4.21 lakh shares (0.55%), Monetary Authority of Singapore bought 3.51 lakh shares (0.46%), and among others at Rs 3,913.35 apiece.

• Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services: The company has approved the issuance of bonds on a private placement basis up to Rs 2,000 crore with green-shoe options up to Rs 500 crore.

• Adani Total Gas: ICRA has upgraded the long-term rating to AA, outlook stable, and re-affirmed the short-term rating at A1+.

• Oil India: The company signed a MoU with HPCL to collaborate on conventional and alternative energy portfolios.

• Wipro: The company to transform and modernise the IT operations of Close Brothers.

• SpiceJet: The Delhi High Court grants time to return two aircraft and engines along with technical records by June 17.

• Grasim Industries: Birla Group holdings increase their stake to 23.18% from 19.10%.

• Havells India: The company has incorporated a joint venture between Havells International Inc. and KRUT LED, LLC to market and sell lighting products and solutions owned by Havells India Limited within the US.

• IKIO Lighting: Subhash Chand Agrawal, CFO and KMP of the company, has resigned from the position effective June 30, 2024.

• TCPL Packaging: The company is to set up a greenfield facility in Chennai for manufacturing folding cartons, aiming at enhancing the company's pan-India presence and improving its capability to serve both new and existing customers.

• PNC Infratech: The company received a bonus worth Rs 56.4 crore for the early completion of the EPC project.

• Hindware Home Innovation: The company appointed Naveen Malik as the CEO of the company.

NBCC India Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 43.1% at Rs 4,025 crore versus Rs 2,813 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 3,583 crore).

• Ebitda at Rs 243 crore versus Rs 104 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 137.3 crore).

• Margin at 6% versus 3.7% (3.8%).

• Net profit up 24.5% at Rs 141 crore versus Rs 114 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 108.8 crore).

Brigade Enterprises Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 102.04% at Rs 1702 crore versus Rs 843 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 1,159 crore).

• Ebitda up 114.24%at Rs 432.73 crore versus Rs 201.98 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 286 crore).

• Margin up 144 bps at 25.41% versus 23.97% (Bloomberg estimate 24.7%).

• Net profit up 234.22% at Rs 210.86 crore versus Rs 63.09 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 89.66 crore).

• Board recommends final dividend of Rs 2 per share.

Medplus Health Services Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 19% at Rs 1,490 crore versus Rs 1,253 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 1489 crore).

• Ebitda up 29.7% at Rs 106 crore versus Rs 82 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 83.57 crore).

• Margin at 7.1% versus 6.5% (Bloomberg estimate 5.6%).

• Net profit up 26.4% at Rs 34 crore versus Rs 27 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 18.3 crore).

IRCTC Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 19.7% at Rs 1,155 crore versus Rs 965 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 1,146 crore).

• Ebitda up 11.7% at Rs 362 crore versus Rs 325 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 394 crore).

• Margin at 31.4% versus 33.6% (Bloomberg estimate 34.3%).

• Net profit up 1.9% at Rs 284 crore versus Rs 279 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 311 crore).

• Board recommends final dividend of Rs 4 per share.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 18.3% at Rs 3,407 crore versus Rs 2,880 crore (Bloomberg estimate Rs 3,337 crore).

• Ebitda up 47.1% at Rs 284 crore versus Rs 193 crore.

• Margin at 8.3% versus 6.7%.

• Net loss of Rs 266 crore versus loss of Rs 195 crore (Bloomberg estimate net loss Rs 259 crore).

Amara Raja Energy and Mobility Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue up 19.52% at Rs 2,908 crore versus Rs 2433 crore.

• Ebitda up 16.24%at Rs 410.26 crore versus Rs 352.93 crore.

• Margin down 39 bps at 14.1% versus 14.5%.

• Net profit up 61.97% at Rs 230 crore versus Rs 142 crore.

Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals Q4 FY24 (Consolidated, YoY)

• Revenue down 7.1% at Rs 2,110 crore versus Rs 2,271 crore.

• Ebitda down 60.7% at Rs 145 crore versus Rs 369 crore.

• Margin down 937 bps at 6.9% versus 16.2%.

• Net profit down 61.3% at Rs 130 crore versus Rs 336 crore.

• Board recommends dividend of Rs 16.5 per share.

Tata Steel, Alkem Laboratories, Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corp., IPCA Laboratories, Shriram Properties, Mahanagar Telephone Nigam, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, NOCIL, Ahluwalia Contracts (India), AVG Logistics, Bata India, Cummins India, Dredging Corp., Droneacharya Aerial Innovations, Entero Healthcare Solutions, Federal-Mogul Goetze, Genus Power Infrastructure, Globus Spirits, GMR Airports Infrastructure, G R Infraprojects, Garware Hi-Tech Films, Gufic Biosciences, Heidelberg Cement India, Heritage Foods, the Hi-Tech Gears, Indegene, Innova Captab, Ion Exchange, ISGEC Heavy Engineering, IST, Jet Freight Logistics, Jindal Poly Films, Jubilant Pharmova, Khaitan (India), KIOCL, KNR Construction, Lemon Tree Hotels, Liberty Shoes, Maithan Alloys, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, M. K. Proteins, Nahar Spinning Mills, Neil Industries, Optiemus Infracom, Red Tape, RHI Magnesita India, Royal Orchid Hotels, RPP Infra Projects, RRIL, Rattanindia Enterprises, Sakthi Sugars, Samhi Hotels, SJVN, SMS Pharmaceuticals, Suprajit Engineering, and Zuari Industries.

The May futures contract of the GIFT Nifty was 39 points or 0.17% down at 22,826.00 as of 07:19 a.m.

Asian benchmarks declined mostly as investors wait for inflation reading from Australia, and as caution rise about the Federal Reserve's policy path.

The Nikkei 225 was trading 23.87 points or 0.1% lower at 38,831.50, and the S&P ASX 200 was trading 53.80 points or 0.7% down at 7,712.90 as of 06:50 a.m.

The S&P 500 Index and Nasdaq Composite rose 0.02% and 0.59%, respectively, as of Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 0.55%.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.66% to a fresh high of 17,032.66, tracking sharp gains in shares of chipmaker Nvidia Corp.

Brent crude was trading up 0.23% at $84.41 per barrel. Gold fell 0.2% to $2,356.46 an ounce.

India's benchmark stock indices ended lower for the second consecutive session on Tuesday, tracking losses in shares of Reliance Industries Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd. The NSE Nifty 50 closed 44.30 points or 0.19% lower at 22,888.15, and the S&P BSE Sensex ended 220.05 points or 0.29% down at 75,170.45.

Overseas investors turned net buyers of Indian equities on Tuesday after two consecutive sessions of selling. Foreign portfolio investors mopped up stocks worth Rs 65.6 crore and domestic institutional investors remained net buyers for the seventh straight day and mopped up equities worth Rs 3,231.7 crore, according to provisional data from the National Stock Exchange.

The Indian currency weakened by 4 paise to close at 83.18 against the U.S. dollar.