MARKETS@11: Market wobbles; Infosys shines

The market, which started trading at record highs, quickly lost momentum. Within an hour, the Nifty fell below 24,700, and the Sensex dipped under 81,100. Bank Nifty also experienced a decline. Mid-cap and small-cap indices dropped by as much as 1.5%.

Infosys gains on strong results

Infosys shares rose by 4% after brokerages raised the target price to ₹1,950 following strong Q1 results. However, the gains later moderated. Mid-cap IT companies mostly declined, with Wipro shares falling by 1.5% ahead of its results.

Sector-specific declines

Chennai Petroleum shares fell by 10% following the record date for a ₹55 per share dividend. IOCL, BPCL, and HPCL dropped between 1.5% and 3.5%. JSW Infra fell by 6% due to lower profits and margins.

Tyre stocks under pressure

Declining profit margins pulled down tyre stocks. Ceat fell by 3%, Apollo Tyres by 7%, MRF by 2.2%, Balkrishna Industries by 2%, and JK Tyre by 1.9%. The drop was attributed to rising rubber and component costs.

South Indian Bank outperforms

South Indian Bank shares surged by 6% following a 45% increase in Q1 net profit and a jump in net interest income. Federal Bank shares, however, fell by over 1%.

Mixed performance in other sectors

Ultratech Cement dropped by 1.5% ahead of its results. Falling metal prices pushed Hindalco shares down by 2.5%.

Currency, commodity

The rupee traded positively, opening at 83.63 per dollar, then slightly weakening to 83.64. Gold dropped to $2,428 per ounce globally, and in Kerala, the price fell by ₹360 to ₹54,520 per sovereign. Crude oil prices also declined, with Brent crude reaching $84.73.