Stock Market Today: Nifty, Sensex End Flat As Traders Eye Voting Trends

The local currency closed flat against the U.S. Dollar at 83.51.

Source: Bloomberg

In yet another range-bound trade, India's benchmark indices ended flat as voting trends in the ongoing general election made traders cautious.

The NSE Nifty 50 settled flat at 22,302.5 and the S&P BSE Sensex declined 45.46 points or 0.06%, to end at 73,466.39

The Nifty hit an intraday low of 22,185.2, and the Sensex touched 73,073.9 earlier in the session. Volatility gauge, India VIX, ended 0.46% higher during the session.

"A lower percentage of the voter base turning up for the polls has led to a spike in India VIX," according to Aditya Agarwala, co-founder and director at Invest4Edu Pvt.

The Indian market echoed subdued investor sentiments akin to those of its Asian peers, and on worries about declining voter turnout, according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. "Despite domestic Q4 earnings largely meeting estimates, the earnings landscape appears to be moderating."

The Indian rupee closed flat against the U.S. Dollar at Rs 83.5. The yield on the 10-year bond was trading higher at 7.14%.

Most stocks in Asia ended lower on Wednesday, as investors seek firm evidence of an earnings recovery before taking this month’s rally further, Bloomberg reported. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.90, while S&P ASX closed higher by 0.14%.

Brent crude was trading 1.38% lower at $82.01 a barrel. Gold was lower by 0.16% at $2,310.36 an ounce.

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Tata motors Ltd., State Bank of India and NTPC Ltd. were positively contributing to changes in the Nifty.

HDFC Bank, Infosys Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., Hindustan Unilever Ltd. and Asian Paints Ltd. added negatively to the index.

The sectors on the NSE ended higher, with the Nifty Oil and Gas and Nifty Auto advancing the most. Nifty Bank and Nifty Finance fell the most by 0.55% and 0.53%, respectively.

Broader markets outperformed the Frontline Index as Mid and Smallcaps soared over 0.50% each, Aditya Gaggar Director of Progressive Shares said. "Nothing has changed technically for the Index i.e. bullish gap zone of 22,160-22,200 will be considered support while 22,400 is an immediate hurdle."

Broader markets outperformed. The S&P BSE Midcap ended 1.52% higher ans S&P BSE Smallcap closed 0.78% higher.

Six out of 20 sectoral indices on the BSE ended lower while 14 advanced. S&P BSE Capital Goods was the top gainer.

The market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,133 stocks rose, 1661 fell, and 132 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Do not see pressure on core capital and margins due to RBI's project finance draft norms, says Canara Bank MD & CEO K Satyanarayana Raju

--We will pass on the cost to infra borrowers

--Total exposure to project finance stands at about Rs 1- 1.1 lakh crore

--Entire project finance portfolio will not attract 5%

--Seeking clarifications from RBI on project finance norms

Source: Post-earnings call

• Revenue at Rs 562.28 crore vs Rs 556.37 crore, up 1.06%

• EBITDA at Rs 74.91 crore vs Rs 88.66 crore, down 15.5%

• Margin at 13.32% vs 15.93%, down 261 bps

• Net profit at Rs 0.76 crore vs Rs 20.09 crore, down 96.21%

• Net profit at Rs 1,016 crore vs Bloomberg estimates of Rs 1,048 crore

• Revenue at Rs 9,519 crore vs Bloomberg estimates of Rs 9,401 crore

• EBITDA at Rs 1,359 crore vs Bloomberg estimates of Rs 1,323 crore

• Margin at 14.3% vs Bloomberg est of 14.1%

• Board recommends a final dividend of Rs 40/share