PSU Banks Rally, But Sensex, Nifty End Notably Lower As IT Stocks Tumble

(RTTNews) - Despite staging a recovery from early lows thanks to a rally in PSU bank stocks, the Indian market ended notably lower on Monday, weighed down by sharp losses in the technology sector.

Worries about a potential recession in the U.S. later this year, and uncertainty about Fed interest rates contributed as well to the weakness in the market.

The benchmark BSE Sensex, which tanked nearly 1,000 points to 59,442.47 early on in the session, ended with a loss of 520.25 points or 0.86% at 59,910.75.

The National Stock Exchange's Nifty50 ended down 121.15 points of 0.68% at 17,706.85, well off the day's low of 17,574.05.

Technology stocks posted sharp losses after Infosys reported a 7% decline in consolidated net profit to $s 6,128 crore in the fourth quarter of 2022-23, over the preceding quarter. On yearly basis, the company's net profit increased by 7.8% in the fourth quarter.

Infosys has issued a revenue growth guidance of 4% - 7% in constant currency and operating margin guidance of 20%- 22% for FY 2023-24.

Infosys, which plunged to Rs 1,185.30 on NSE, ended nearly 9.5% down at Rs 1,259. MindTree fell 7%, Tech Mahindra ended 5.2% down, HCL Technologies lost 2.8% and L&T Technology Services drifted down 2.5%, while Wipro, Mphasis and Tata Consultancy Services lost 1.5 to 1.8%.

PSU bank stocks had a pretty good session. Punjab & Sind Bank soared 18.5%. Indian Bank surged 8.5% and Central Bank of India climbed 6%. Union Bank of India, IOB, Maharashtra Bank, UCO Bank and Bank of India gained 4 to 5%. PNB, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank and State Bank of India ended higher by 2 to 2.7%.

Among other gainers, Nestle moved up nearly 4%. Power Grid Corporation, Britannia Industries, Coal India, Hindalco, SBI Life, Grasim Industries, Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, ITC and Bajaj Finance moved up 1 to 2.3%.

HDFC Bank declined sharply The bank's net revenue grew by 21% to Rs 32,083 crore in the fourth quarter of FY 2023, from Rs 26,509.8 crore in the January-March 2022 quarter. The bank's net profit rose 19.8% to Rs 12,047.5 crore in the latest quarter, over the fourth quarter of March 2022.

NTPC, HDFC, Larsen & Toubro, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Divi's Laboratories ended notably lower.

On the economic front, data released by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry today showed India's annual wholesale price index based inflation eased to 29-month low of 1.34% in March of 2023, after coming in at 3.85% in February 2023, and 14.63% in March 2022.

A separate data released by the government showed India's trade deficit was $19.73 billion March 2023. Exports declined 13.9% to $38.38 billion, while imports dropped by 7.9% to $58.11 billion. The data also said the total trade deficit for 2022-23 was $122 billion.