Mapping the market: Rs 1.25 lakh crore gone in a day, but NHPC FPO sails

NEW DELHI: It was a day of tepid earnings by frontline companies. It all started off with HCL Technologies reporting less-than-expected earnings before market hours, and negative news kept pouring in even after the closing bell, with Vedanta reporting over Rs 11,000 crore losses largely on exceptional items.

Earnings growth remained elusive.

Bank of Japan (BoJ) had nothing to offer to the ailing Japanese economy and to global equities, so to say.

Hints of no rate hike from US Fed Chair Janet Yellen after the two-day money policy meeting proved a damp squib. All of that on the day of expiry of April series futures and options contracts.

The benchmark indices caved in and the Sensex ended the day with a 461-point loss. The Nifty50 was no better, settling below the 7,850 mark.

Here’s a wrapup of the key actions from across stocks and sectors that hogged limelight on Dalal Street on Wednesday.

Stocks rout wipes out Rs 1.25 lakh cr of wealth: Investor wealth, as measured by BSE market capitalisation, eroded by a significant Rs 1.25 lakh crore during the session to Rs 97,12,485 crore. Market breadth remained negative as 1,697 of the 2,696 BSE stocks that traded during the day ended lower.



Vedanta slumps 5% ahead of Q4 numbers: Shares of Vedanta were hit badly ahead of its quarterly earnings. The stock plunged 4.63 per cent to eventually end the day at Rs 100. After market hours, the Anil Agarwal-led company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 11,181 crore for the quarter ended March 30, after accounting for exceptional losses of Rs 12,312 crore. Live chart here



NHPC drops 2%, OFS sails through: The stock settled 1.86 per cent lower at Rs 21.15. A day after institutional bidders poured in Rs 3,410 crore to seek 1.58 times the shares reserved for them, retail investors bid for over 41.45 crore NHPC shares against 25.15 crore reserved for them, according to stock exchange data. Live chart here



HCL Tech’s Q3 nos fail to impress: The stock dropped 4.51 per cent for the day to close at Rs 799.95. The company reported a consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 1,953 crore for the March quarter. This compared with a PAT of Rs 1,920 crore reported for the December quarter. Dollar revenue growth at 1.3 per cent YoY was lower than market expectation of 2.5 per cent. Live chart here



Jubilant Food snaps 3-day winning streak: The stock plunged 10.25 per cent to close at Rs 1,195.40 on BSE. There were media reports that the counter witnessed a block deal of 2.39 million equity shares, representing 3.63 per cent of total equity, NSE data showed. Live chart here



Rajesh Exports gains on order win: On a weak day, the stock could gain only 0.88 per cent to settle at Rs 576.50. The jewellery exporter and retailer said it had won an export order worth Rs 780 crore from Singapore. Live chart here