India Stocks: Indian shares slip, tracking financials as Adani stocks extend slide

Sun Pharma Advanced Research

30/01/2023 08:42

(Updates levels)
       BENGALURU, Jan 30 (Reuters) - 
    Indian shares fell in a volatile session on Monday,
mirroring the financials ahead of the Union budget as Adani
Group extended a decline after a short-seller attack on group
companies triggered a sell-off over the previous two sessions.
  
    The Nifty 50 index  .NSEI  was down 0.98% at 17,432.45 as of
1:58 p.m. IST, while the S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  fell 0.91% to
58,792.16. Both indexes had gained 0.6% earlier in the session.
    The move in the benchmarks was in step with the intraday
trajectory of high-weightage financials  .NIFTYFIN , which is
down 1.7% as of 1:58 p.m. IST.  Financials had dragged the index
over the previous two sessions.
    Indian equities had tumbled to a three-month low on Friday,
dragged by a short-seller attack on Adani group companies, which
triggered a selloff in banks.
    The group is facing a critical session today with the
secondary share sale of the flagship Adani Enterprises  ADEL.NS 
seeing only 2% subscription as of 2 p.m. IST on Monday. 
    "The markets will remain very volatile ahead of the budget,"
Aishvarya Dadheech, director and fund manager at Ambit Asset
Management said. Analysts also cited fears of a drawdown in
financials on the back of a scathing report by Hindenburg
Research that raised concerns about the books of Adani
companies. 
        Adani Enterprises rose as much as 10% before erasing
gains to fall nearly 3% after Adani Ports  APSE.NS  reversed a
climb. The other group stocks corrected further for the third
consecutive session.
        Thirteen of the Nifty 50 constituents advanced while 37
declined. Among individual stocks, Bajaj Finance  BJFN.NS  rose
nearly 5% to a four-month high of 6,040 rupees after its
third-quarter earnings beat estimates, while Sun Pharma hovered
near an eight-year high ahead of third-quarter results.
        Foreign institutional investors sold 83.72 billion
rupees  ($1.03 billion) worth of shares over the last two
sessions since Hindenburg's report.
    Investors will also shift focus to India's Union budget on
Feb. 1, with the government's fiscal consolidation path and
borrowing calendar for fiscal 2024 as triggers.
    Besides the Union budget, analysts also said rate decisions
by global central banks and January automobile sales data would
determine the mood in the market.
    The U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and the Bank
of England are scheduled to announce their rate decisions, later
this week.
    ($1 = 81.6450 Indian rupees)
 (Reporting by Bharath Rajeswaran in Bengaluru; Editing by
Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
 ((bharath.rajeswaran@thomsonreuters.com; Mobile:
+919769003463))