Stock markets break 7-day rally to end lower; HUL drops 4 pc post-earnings
Mumbai, Apr 24 (PTI): Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty reversed their seven-day uptrend and settled lower on Thursday amid profit-taking and disappointing fourth quarter earnings of Hindustan Unilever.
Selling in blue-chips ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and a largely muted trend in Asian and European equities also dragged the markets down.
The 30-share BSE benchmark declined 315.06 points or 0.39 per cent to settle at 79,801.43. During the day, it dropped 391.94 points or 0.48 per cent to 79,724.55.
The NSE Nifty went down by 82.25 points or 0.34 per cent to 24,246.70.
In the past seven trading days, the BSE benchmark gauge zoomed 6,269.34 points or 8.48 per cent and the Nifty jumped 1,929.8 points or 8.61 per cent.
From the Sensex firms, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) dropped 4 per cent after the firm reported a decline of 3.35 per cent in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,475 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 2025, hit by lower margins.
Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Eternal, Mahindra & Mahindra, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj Finance were also among the laggards.
Nestle India Ltd on Thursday reported a 6.5 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 873.46 crore for March quarter of FY25 as the FMCG industry faced food inflation and moderation in urban consumption.
IndusInd Bank, UltraTech Cement, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Titan and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
"The domestic market witnessed mild profit-booking after the recent rally. Similarly, global markets too experienced selling pressure as the market participants scaled back the possibility of a quick resolution of tariff disputes between the US and China.
"FMCG majors' Q4 results were weak, impacted by subdued volumes and margin pressure, which led the sector to underperform," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
According to Bajaj Broking Research, "Benchmark indices snapped their seven-day winning streak, ending slightly lower. The Nifty opened on a subdued note and traded within a narrow range throughout the day, maintaining a corrective bias,"
The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.16 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.01 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty dropped 1.39 per cent, FMCG (0.82 per cent), teck (0.59 per cent), financial services (0.40 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.33 per cent), BSE Focused IT (0.24 per cent) and power (0.22 per cent).
BSE commodities, healthcare, metal and services were the gainers.
As many as 2,015 stocks declined while 1,920 advanced and 151 remained unchanged on the BSE.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled lower while Tokyo's Nikkei 225 and Shanghai SSE Composite ended in the positive territory.
European markets were quoting lower.
US markets ended sharply higher on Wednesday. Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.50 per cent, S&P 500 surged 1.67 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.07 per cent.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.03 per cent to USD 66.10 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,332.93 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
The BSE benchmark jumped 520.90 points or 0.65 per cent to settle at 80,116.49, the highest closing level since December 18, on Wednesday. The Nifty rallied 161.70 points or 0.67 per cent to 24,328.95.
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Protest held outside Karachi Bakery in Hyderabad demanding name change
Hyderabad, May 11 (PTI): A group of people held a protest in front of a Karachi Bakery outlet here, demanding that the name be changed, police said on Sunday.
Around 10-15 members, holding the tricolour and wearing saffron scarves, gathered in front of the Karachi Bakery store at Shamshabad on Saturday afternoon and raised "anti-Pakistan slogans".
The protesters then allegedly tried to damage the outlet's nameboard by hitting it with sticks. They were subsequently dispersed by the police.
In a video circulated on social media on Sunday, the nameboard was seen partially covered with a cloth.
"The protest was held by 10-15 people on Saturday afternoon, demanding that Karachi Bakery change its name," a police official at the RGI Airport police station said.
A complaint was lodged against the protesters, accusing them of obstructing customers by staging the protest in front of the outlet, he added.
The promoters of the city-based bakery chain had earlier clarified that they are a "100 per cent Indian brand", after certain groups demanded a name change, citing its association with a city in Pakistan.
A protest was also held last week in Visakhapatnam, with similar demands to change Karachi Bakery’s name amid conflicts between India and the neighbouring country.
Police personnel were deployed near one of the bakery’s branches in Hyderabad on May 7 as a preventive measure, after a leader of a right-wing organisation posted a video on social media demanding the name be changed, or else they would do it themselves.
Karachi Bakery promoters Rajesh Ramnani and Harish Ramnani said the brand was established in Hyderabad in 1953 by their grandfather Khanchand Ramnani, who migrated to India from Pakistan during partition.
They also appealed to Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, the DGP, and the police to help them retain Karachi Bakery’s brand identity and prevent any forced name change.
Earlier, the tricolour was also displayed above the nameboards of their outlets in the city.
Men calling themselves nationalists vandalising an Indian owned Karachi bakery in Hyderabad.
— Anusha Ravi Sood (@anusharavi10) May 11, 2025
It's a 6-decade old Indian brand founded by founded by Khanchand Ramnani.
Poor Karachi bakery that has nothing to do with Pakistan becomes the victim of idiocy every single time. pic.twitter.com/XDkmtMnkgp
