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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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
