Market Wrap, April 24: Indices snap 7-day winning streak; SENSEX falls 315 points, NIFTY below 24,300 level; HUL declines 4%

Taking a break from its seven days of rally, the Indian stock market on Thursday, April 24, settled lower as heavyweight stocks declined and bank stocks remained under pressure.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 79,801.43, falling 315.06 points, or 0.39%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index ended at the 24,246.70 level, declining 82.25 points, or 0.34%.

The market breadth was neutral as 1,441 stocks declined out of 2,930 traded.

The broader market also closed the session lower. Among sectors, FMCG and consumer durables were the biggest losers.

The investors, however, were hopeful following foreign investors continuing to buy the Indian market and talks about the de-escalation of trade tariffs between the US and China.

On Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth ₹3,332.93 crore on a net basis, according to exchange data.

Hindustan Unilever was the biggest losing stock on the NIFTY50 index after the company reported its January to March quarter earnings. The Q4 numbers were mostly in line with estimates; however, the company's forward-looking statement made investors cautious.

Globally, the US markets closed higher on Wednesday amid hopes of trade war de-escalation. All three major US stock indexes pared gains by the closing bell.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 419.59 points, or 1.07%, to 39,606.57; the S&P 500 rose 88.10 points, or 1.67%, to 5,375.86; and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 407.63 points, or 2.50%, to 16,708.05.

The Asian markets, however, remained mixed as investors were cautious.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 edged up by 0.5% to finish at 35,039.15. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.6% to 7,968.20, while South Korea's Kospi lost 0.1% to 2,522.33. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.7% to 21,909.76, while the Shanghai Composite was little changed, inching up less than 0.1% to 3,297.29.

As many as 2,930 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,404 advanced, and 1,441 stocks declined, while 85 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 42 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 13 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 117 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 39 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

At the end of the session, NSE-listed firms market capitalisation stood at ₹427.09 lakh crore.

The volatility index India VIX rose 1.81% to 16.25 levels.

The broader market remained under pressure, with the Nifty Midcap 100 index closing at 54,969.85, falling 0.13%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index slipped marginally by 0.04% at 16,963.50 levels.

Hindustan Unilever was the top losing stock, tanking 4.12%, followed by Bharti Airtel (-1.89%), Eicher Motors (-1.88%), ICICI Bank (-1.64%) and Eternal (-1.02%).

IndusInd Bank (3.17%), UltraTech Cement (1.89%), Grasim (1.67%), Dr Reddy’s (1.59%) and Cipla (1.32%) were the biggest gainers on the NIFTY50 index.

The results were declared in the first half. Shares of the FMCG giant dropped as much as 4.12% to ₹2,324 apiece on the NSE.

The company reported a 3.6% rise in its standalone net profit at ₹2,493 crore, against ₹2,406 crore logged in the year-ago period. Revenue from operations came in at ₹15,000 crore, up 2.08% against ₹14,693 crore in the year-ago period.

Rakesh Ranjan, the chief executive officer of food delivery business at Eternal, will step down from his post, Moneycontrol reported, citing sources. However, he won't be leaving the firm.

At close, the stock was closed at ₹838.10 per share, rising 8.96%.

For the fourth quarter of the 2024-25 financial year (Q4FY25), the company posted a 25.55% year-on-year (YoY) increase in its consolidated net profit to ₹21.57 crore as compared to ₹17.18 crore seen in the same quarter a year-ago period.