Global markets may have sent mixed signals, but domestic equities shrugged that off and opened firmly in the green on Thursday, 16 July. Within the first minutes of trade the Sensex climbed more than 120 points, while the Nifty comfortably held above the key 24,100 mark. Much of that strength came from renewed buying in IT names and a handful of heavyweight bluechips. On the flip side, ICICI Lombard shares saw heavy selling on the back of soft quarterly numbers and slipped as much as 10%.
Where the Sensex and Nifty Stood in Early Trade
In the opening hour the BSE Sensex was trading 225.87 points higher at 77,411.30. The Nifty, too, added 67.30 points to reach 24,145.80. Just how broad the buying was becomes clear from the market breadth: around 1,543 stocks were advancing in the green, while 742 were in the red and 144 stayed flat. IT and automobile stocks led the charge in today's session. The Nifty's top gainers featured names such as HCL Tech, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Hindalco and Wipro. This upmove was not sudden either, as both the Sensex and Nifty had closed higher on Wednesday as well, showing that the positive tone has been holding steady.
Paytm and HDFC Life See Strong Buying
Amid the upbeat mood, big names like Paytm and HDFC Life drew plenty of investor interest and flew higher. Not every stock rode the wave, though. The prominent losers on the Nifty included SBI Life Insurance, Grasim, ONGC, Bajaj Finserv and Eicher Motors, all of which stayed weak in the red. In other words, even as the broader market rose, pockets of profit-taking and pressure were clearly visible.
Why ICICI Lombard's Stock Cracked
The biggest hit today landed on ICICI Lombard General Insurance investors, whose stock crashed by close to 10%. The reason lay in the company's own report card. On Wednesday it released its results for the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year, and the numbers came in weaker than expected, triggering the heavy selling. Net profit fell to Rs 403 crore from Rs 747 crore a year earlier, a sharp drop of roughly 46%. According to the company, two large fire insurance claims and a Supreme Court ruling on the motor third party (TP) portfolio weighed directly on its profit. The only silver lining was that total income rose to Rs 6,813 crore, up from Rs 6,083 crore in the same period last year. So while revenue grew, higher claims and costs squeezed the bottom line.
