Stock Market Highlights: Sensex ends 1,172 pts lower, Nifty below 17,200 dragged by Infosys, HDFC Bank; VIX jumps 9%

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Q4 Results | Mindtree net profit up 8% at Rs 473 crore, beats Street estimates

The IT company's net profit increased 8.1 percent on a quarter-on-quarter basis to Rs 473.1 crore for the period between January and March, according to a regulatory filing.

Its revenue grew 5.4 percent sequentially to Rs 2,897.4 crore. 

Analysts in a CNBC-TV18 poll had estimated the company's quarterly net profit at Rs 437 crore and revenue at Rs 2,890 crore. 

Component manufacturing, defence products a big opportunity: Vikas Khemani 

Vikas Khemani, Founder of Carnelian Capital Advisors, is bullish on the manufacturing space, and that within that, the defence products segment. He has been bullish on manufacturing for the last one-and-a-half years.

"We believe that there will be a lot of import substitution and a lot of exports will happen from India across various sectors. Defence happens to be just one of them, and is also one of the very important components. In defence, what kind of policies the government has come out with in the last one year, in terms of banning items from imports and stuff like that, is creating a serious opportunity," he says. 

Favour IT sector for 3-4 years: Deepak Shenoy

Deepak Shenoy, Founder of Capitalmind, favours the IT space for a 3-4-year period. "We expected margins to come down for a lot of IT companies, since work-from-home is kind of going away and we're seeing a lot of attrition, and new hires are coming in at a significant premium to current... We should see IT get hurt on margins. The largest margin company is TCS - and we have that in our portfolio - and they've managed to retain margin for the most part, but I think a lot of the smaller companies will have problems," he says. 

Shenoy believes that in general, the longer-term growth metric for IT would have gone past the 15-16 percent level. "That will continue for the next 3-4 years. The next quarter is going to be bad but I don't think this is bad for the industry as a whole. We possibly see a lot more companies getting into the $1 billion-plus deal barrier happening in the next year," he adds. 

Nifty looks weak because of Infy, HDFC twins weight, things not that bad in broader market: Hemang Jani

Hemang Jani of Motilal Oswal Financial Services is of the view that specific themes in the market such as defense, power utilities, sugar, ethanol and paperare seeing a bit of strength. "Our sense is that because of the kind of run-up that we've had, and we're getting into the quarterly earnings season at a time when there are multiple headwinds, there is some pressure at the index level and there is a case of some sort of rotation depending upon how the numbers are," he says.

A part of the money from IT is moving into some other sectors, maybe BFSI and a few other midcap-related sectors where FII holdings are less, he says. "A combination of these factors is impacting the market. And we think that till we get a bit of a clarity on the earnings front, there is not going to be any significant run-up at the index level," Jani adds. 

Rupee ends lower at 76.26 vs US dollar

The rupee finishes the day at 76.26 against the greenback. On Wednesday, it had settled at 76.18.

Market At Close | Banking, IT stocks drag Sensex, Nifty

Here are some highlights: 

--Sensex, Nifty50 at nearly one-month lows

--Infosys, HDFC Bank, HDFC contribute more than 200 points to fall in Nifty 

--Weak qurterly performance by Infosys leads to fall in IT; Nifty IT down four percent

--HDFC Bank reports mixed Q4; stock down for 8th straight session

--Tata Power slips over five percent on lower-than-expected green business valuation

--NTPC top Nifty gainer, hits 10-year high on strong business outlook

--Improved earnings by ICICI Prudential, positive management commentary lifts insurance basket

--Auto stocks see last-hour recovery; most stocks in the green

--L&T Info, Mindtree fall following Bloomberg report of merger

--Birlasoft, Tata Power, Voltas, Bank of Baroda, L&T Tech, PVR top midcap losers

--Defence stocks rise; BEL, HAL rise over three percent 

--Fertiliser shares gain on wealther office's forecast of normal monsoon; Chambal Fertilisers up seven percent

--Market breadth favours bears; advance-decline ratio at 2:3

Closing Bell | Sensex down 1,172 pts, Nifty50 at 17,174 

Both headline indices finish the day around two percent lower. The Sensex sheds 1,172.2 points to end at 57,166.7 and the Nifty50 settles at 17,173.7, down 302 points from its previous close.

Financial and IT shares the biggest drags for both headline indices, led by a fall in HDFC Bank and Infosys -- both of which reported their quarterly earnings last week. Gains in select auto, metal and FMCG shares lend some support. (Read more on the closing bell)

We do not comment on speculative news: L&T Spokesperson 

CNBC-TV18 had reached out to construction major Larsen & Toubro (L&T) for a comment on a Bloomberg report suggesting Mindtree and L&T Infotech may mull the share swap ratio for a merger as soon as next week.

Mindtree and L&T shares off intraday lows. Mindtree down 3.5 percent at Rs 3,953.5, having dropped as much as 6.4 percent earlier in the day. L&T down 1.3 percent at Rs 1,738, having declined as much as 2.6 percent during the session so far. 

CNBC-TV18 Exclusive | Tata Motors's Rajesh Khatri says auto industry still recovering from chip shock globally

In an exclusive interaction with CNBC-TV18, Rajesh Khatri of Tata Motors says a rise in commodity prices has led to elevated costs for the auto industry, which is recovering from the semiconductor shock globally. 

He also says that it remains to be seen whether the Russia-Ukraine crisis will have an impact on the industry. 

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Asahi Songwon to acquire 78% in API company Atlas Life for Rs 48 crore

The stock jumps as much as 7.6 percent to Rs 340 apiece after the announcement. 

Lupin turns flat amid choppy trade

Lupin shares flat, having swung between gains and losses during the session so far. Earlier on Monday, the stock moved within a range of Rs 764.9-780.4 apiece on BSE. 

CNBC-TV18 accessed a Form 483 issued by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the Lupin’s Tarapur API plant. The US drug regulator has pointed out that the existing procedures and processes to manufacture APIs are inadequate at the facility, and the cleaning process not adequately established and validated. 

The regulator inspected the Tarapur plant from March 22 to April 4, and issued four observations to the company.

In a separate development, Lupin received tentative approval from the US regulator for tenofovir alafenamide tablets, used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection. The drug has annual sales of $484.2 million in the US.

Demand side expected to remain weak for commodities: Andrew Holland

Andrew Holland of Avendus Alt Strategies tells CNBC-TV18 that he expects a global capex cycle recovery. He is of the view that the growth sector in the US will be hit from rising interest rates. 

Speaking on commodities, he says that the demand side is expected to remain weak going forward. 

India will emerge an investor’s destination potentially, he adds. 

Few catalysts for market to move higher: Rupal Agarwal

Rupal Agarwal of Bernstein tells CNBC-TV18 that there are few catalysts for the market to move higher. She is of the view that stagflation is becoming a possibility in India, though she doles not expect recession in the economy. 

Mindtree shares under pressure ahead of March quarter earnings

Infosys, HDFC twins, TCS, ICICI Bank top drags on Sensex 

Stocks such as Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra and SBI also among the biggest contributors to the fall in the 30-scrip index. 

Buy Mahindra Holidays, Rashtriya Chemicals: Ashish Kyal

Here are two trading calls from Ashish Kyal of Waves Strategy Advisors:

--Buy Mahindra Holidays for a target of Rs 275 with a stop loss at Rs 247.5 

--Buy RCF for a target of Rs 114 with a stop loss at Rs 102 

Nifty Metal down 0.2%, recovers most of day's losses; Tata Steel in the green

Here's how the metal basket fared in afternoon deals: 

Business Update | JSPL March quarter sales up 8%, production up 2%

The company's steel sales reached a record 0.79 million tonnes last month. Production and sales of the alloy hit record 8.01 mt and 7.63 mt respectively in hte financial year ended March.

Jindal Steel & Power shares down 0.8 percent at Rs 547.7 apiece on BSE, having gyrated around the flatline in a range of Rs 543.5-558.4 earlier during the session. 

Tata Steel offers decent opportunity among metal stocks: Prakash Diwan

Market expert Prakash Diwan is of the view that metal companies such as Tata Steel, which are fully integrated, have successfully deleveraged their balance sheets and are agile enough to adapt to changing environments offer a decent opportunity. "The last time then the Tata Steel stock was close to Rs 1,300-1,400 levels, there were targets of Rs 1,900-2,000 that it started floating around given the buoyancy at that point. My sense is that the subdivision of share split will probably get much more participation in that sense," he says.

"The dividend is always welcome for people who believe in that kind of an income as well. Tata Steel and steel as a sector including SAIL, which are absolutely low on the valuation spectrum relatively, will offer great opportunity for long-term investors," he adds.

Buy HAL, sell Bank of Baroda: Prakash Gaba

Prakash Gaba of prakashgaba.com shares two trading calls: 

--Sell Bank of Baroda for a target of Rs 110 with a stop loss at Rs 115 

--Buy HAL for a target of Rs 1,750 with a stop loss at Rs 1,683 

Large Trade | Rs 256-crore TVS Motor Company shares change hands

A total of 39.5 lakh shares in TVS Motor, representing 0.8 percent of the company's equity, worth Rs 256.4 crore change hands.

The stock down one percent at Rs 643.8, having dropped as much as 1.4 percent earlier in the day. 

L&T said to merge tech arms into $22 billion firm: Bloomberg 

HDFC twins fall nearly 5%

Here's what the BFSI pack looks like: 

SBI hikes its marginal cost-based lending rate by basis points across tenors. 

Fear index India VIX surges 

Nifty IT top laggard among NSE sectoral indices

Axis Bank hikes MCLR by 5 bps across tenures effective today    

Axis Bank shares decline as much as 2.1 percent to Rs 776 apiece. 

Marginal cost of funds-based lending rate is the minimum interest rate below which a financial institution cannot lend. 

Nifty Auto down 0.5%, off day's low

The auto index down 0.5 percent, having fallen as much as 1.2 percent earlier in the day. 

Maruti Suzuki hikes prices by average 1.3% across models   

The auto maker's stock falls as much as 1.5 percent to Rs 7,359.7 apiece.