Stock Market Highlights: Sensex ends 102 points lower, Nifty50 below 18,150 as market extends losses to fourth day

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Reliance Industries shares edge higher ahead of Q2 earnings announcement

Reliance Industries shares ended 0.2 percent higher at Rs 2,627.1 apiece on BSE. The conglomerate will report its financial results for the September quarter later in the day. 

Catch LIVE coverage of Reliance Industries Q2 results here

Disclaimer: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

ICICI Bank valuations reasonable, could see secular growth rate in next 3-4 years: Elixir Equities' Dipan Mehta 

Dipan Mehta, Director at Elixir Equities, says one can buy ICICI Bank shares immediately after the results. He, however, suggests investors to wait for a slight correction because the market trends appear to be soft at this point of time.

“The next few quarters and years will be fabulous for ICICI Bank. All the NPA issues are now well behind. The bank is well-capitalised and hungry for growth and the environment also is fantastic in terms of increasing loan book. Look at the way they have aggressively expanded the credit card segment at the expense of HDFC Bank. So I expect very good numbers to come through for ICICI Bank, not just for this quarter but for many of the coming quarters... So very positive on the stock... Disclosure that we and our clients are invested," he said.

Definitely like private sector banks: Jitendra Gohil 

Jitendra Gohil of Credit Suisse Wealth Management likes private sector banks. "We have been recommending our clients to build exposure when private banks were little underperforming. I would say that outlook is extremely positive for private banks; they have already taken good hit on their profits by keeping aside provisions. I feel the growth is little bit of a worry and as we as we come out of COVID-led lockdown over the next 6-9 months, we feel that the growth will pick up materially and hence we are very selective in this space," he said.

Gohil believe one should take out good names like banks and franchisees that have demonstrated resilience during the previous crises. "We think that this space is extremely attractive, and investors should be a little bit overweight on private banks. We like the large private sector banks including one PSU bank, which is one of the largest. So I think private banks and large PSU banks are our preferred space that we would recommend to our clients,” he added.

Any letdown in profitability going to hurt midcap IT stocks: Prakash Diwan 

Market expert Prakash Diwan told CNBC-TV18 that after the recent run-up in the midcap IT space, any letdown on the profitability front is going to hurt the space because the cost of hiring and talent is going to rise phenomenally. 

"This is one space that investors can't ignore, given the kind of potential and the resilience it can lend to your portfolio and especially when you look at the global headwinds, especially if COVID cases were to increase and things were to go back to slowdown in terms of the physical activity then IT comes back center stage," he said. 

"If you look at the kind of businesses that most of the larger players have done, Wipro is on a phase where all the transformation that was started about 18 months back with the new leadership coming in is still going to keep on giving you a lot of gains. So my senses given the valuation comfort given the kind of improvement in margin and top lines Wipro is something that I would look at... From IT companies in the midcap space, it is best to buy Larsen and Toubro, the parent itself, you have all the three IT names within the stable contributing. L&T probably also has certain positive headwinds because of the kind of infrastructure spend that is likely. So the best way to play midcap IT is to buy L&T and on the large cap side, Wipro probably stands out as a very good pick at the current juncture," he added. 

Expect Nifty to find support around 17,950: Ajit Mishra

Ajit Mishra, VP-Research at Religare Broking, said the market is expected to react to Reliance and ICICI Bank earnings in early trade on Monday.

"Besides, global cues and the movement in crude oil prices would be actively tracked. On the benchmark front, we expect Nifty to find support around the 17,950 zone while the 18,200-18,400 zone would act as a hurdle. While traders are complaining of excessive volatility across the board, the recent fall is helping investors accumulate quality stocks which are available at a good bargain," he said. 

Rupee ends marginally lower at 74.90 against dollar

The rupee ended at 74.90 against the US dollar, as against its previous close of 74.86.

Market extended losses on muted Q2 results, profit booking: Geojit Financial Services' Vinod Nair

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said that despite a strong opening owing to favourable global cues, domestic indices continued their losing streak succumbing to profit booking. "Barring banks and realty stocks, all major sectors bled. The global market was in the green as investors welcomed a surprise interest payment by China’s debt-ridden major property developer. However, the Indian market is impacted by muted Q2 results, which are weaker than forecasts due to high input costs," he said.

Market At Close | Nifty Bank at record; HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank up around 1% each

Here are highlights of the October 22 session: 

--Midcap underperformance continues; index down 1%

--IT, metal shares drag market; financials lend support

--Bank Nifty rises 293 points to end at closing high of 40,324

--Midcap index falls 274 points to 31,082

--HDFC lifts Nifty by 26 points; Infosys, ITC together drag index by 47 points

--Reports on additional tax on tobacco keep ITC under pressure; stock down 3.4%

--HDFC top Nifty gainer, hits record closing high

--Kotak Mahindra Bank continues upmove ahead of Q2 earnings

--Asian Paints closes in red but 3% off lows after management commentary

--HDFC Life fails to hold recovery following in line Q2 results; stock down 0.4%

--Polycab closes in green despite sharp fall in margin

--Federal Bank surges 7% after earnings; slippages fall over 50% QoQ

--IndiaMart, LIC Housing, Biocon, Can Fin, Indian Hotels fall after earnings

--TVS top midcap gainer after strong Q2, EV subsidiary announcement

--AU Small Finance Bank, Godrej Properties, Muthoot, Shriram Transport top midcap gainers

--Market breadth favours bears; advance-decline ratio at 1:2

Market At Close | Hindalco, Coal India, Tata Motors, ITC top laggards; HDFC, Bajaj Auto, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, ONGC top gainers 

Closing Bell | Sensex falls 102 points, extends losses to fourth day in a row

The Sensex index fell 101.9 points or 0.2 percent to end at 60,821.6 and the broader Nifty50 benchmark slid 63.2 points or 0.4 percent to settle at 18,114.9, extending losses to the fourth session in a row. Losses in IT, pharma and metal shares pulled the market lower, though gains in select financial stocks kept the downside in check. (Read more on the closing bell)

HDFC Life makes additional COVID reserve of Rs 60 crore in Q2 FY22

HDFC LIfe's management said on a conference call that the company made an additional COVID reserve of Rs 60 crore in Q2, without which the profit is almost flat. The company does not expect an impact on margins due to reinsurance repricing.

HDFC Life shares traded half a percent lower at Rs 691.6 apiece on BSE in late afternoon deals.

Earlier in the day, the insurer reported a 16 per cent decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 275.9  crore for the quarter ended September 30. Its total income, however, rose to Rs 20,478.5 crore, from Rs 16,426.03 crore in the year-ago period.

Hindustan Zinc Q2 profit up 4%, revenue up 7.7%; shares fall 

Hindustan Zinc shares traded 5.6 percent lower at Rs 323.5 apiece on BSE, having declined as much as 7.9 percent earlier in the day.

Infosys, ITC, TCS, Tata Steel biggest drags on Sensex

Losses in stocks such as Infosys, ITC, TCS and Tata Steel pulled the 30-scrip index lower. On the other hand, gains in shares such as HDFC, HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank kept the downside in check.

Polycab India's stock was up 1.7%