After opening the day marginally lower, Indian share markets witnessed a sharp selloff as the session progressed and ended deep in the red.

Benchmark indices crashed to three-month lows today, as banking stocks witnessed a sharp selloff along with Adani group companies in the wake of a short-sellers attack on the conglomerate.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 874 points (down 1.5%).

Meanwhile, the NSE Nifty closed lower by 288 points (down 1.6%).

Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto, and ITC were among the top gainers today.

Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, and SBI, on the other hand, were among the top losers today.

The SGX Nifty was trading at 17,689, down by 264 points, at the time of writing.

Broader markets settled on a weak note. The BSE Midcap fell 1.3% while the BSE SmallCap index ended 1.9% lower.

Sectoral indices ended the day on a mixed note, with stocks in the power sector, banking sector, energy sector, and telecom sector witnessing most of the selling. The Bank Nifty index fell around 3% intraday today.

While stocks in the healthcare sector, FMCG sector, and auto sector witnessed buying.

Shares of Jindal Saw hit their 52-week highs today.

Asian share markets ended the day on a positive note. The Hang Seng ended higher by 0.5% while the Shanghai Composite index gained 0.8%. The Nikkei ended flat.

US stock futures are trading on a negative note. Dow futures are trading lower by 0.1% while Nasdaq futures are trading down by 0.3%.

The rupee is trading at 81.53 against the US$.

Gold prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading lower by 0.5% at Rs 57,189 per 10 grams.

Meanwhile, silver prices for the latest contract on MCX are trading flat at Rs 68,650 per kg.

Here are five reasons why Indian share markets plunged today.

#1 Tracking sharp selloff in Adani group stocks

Following the release of a report by US-based Hindenburg Research against the Adani Group, all Adani group stocks witnessed a steep selloff.

On Friday, five Adani group stocks - Adani Enterprises, Adani Total Gas, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy, and Adani Ports & SEZ hit lower circuits in intraday trade.

Following the heavy beating, the impact seems visible on Adani Enterprises' FPO that has opened today. It received a muted response.

#2 Banking stocks bleed

The Hindenburg report claimed that Adani's use of extreme leverage spells danger for creditors. This had a snowball effect on bank stocks today. PSU bank stocks were the worst hit with India's largest lender SBI losing more than 5%.

Other top losers included the Bank of Baroda, PNB, and ICICI Bank.

#3 FIIs slowdown

Foreign investors (FIIs) sold Indian equities worth Rs 23.9 billion (bn) in Wednesday's trading session. The total foreign outflows so far in January 2023 is now above Rs 167 bn, showing data available on NSDL.

#4 Rising crude oil prices

Led by hopes of demand recovery from China, Brent crude oil futures were trading higher for the second day in a row today and were trading around the US$ 88 a barrel mark.

#5 Pre-budget jitters

Traders and investors remained cautious ahead of two big events in the coming week - Union Budget and Fed meeting outcome. Both events are coinciding on 1 February 2023.
 

DLF to launch premium housing project

In news from the real estate sector, the share price of DLF gained 1.2% today.

Realty major DLF plans to launch a luxury housing project in Gurugram next month with an estimated sales revenue of around Rs 75 bn as it seeks to tap strong demand for high-end apartments.

The company plans to develop around 1,100 apartments in this residential project.

It has achieved a 45% growth in sales bookings to Rs 65.9 bn in the April-December period and is on track to achieve its annual sales guidance of Rs 80 bn.

The company has launched apartments and independent floors at different price points, which helped achieve better sales.

For the financial year 2022-23, it has launched residential projects in Delhi, Gurugram, Panchkula, and Chennai.

The company, on 25 January 2023, reported a 37% YoY rise in profits at Rs 5.2 bn for December 2022 quarter.

However, the total revenue fell to Rs 15.6 bn from Rs 16.9 bn in the same quarter last year.

At present, the real estate sector cycle looks strong.

DLF is India's largest real estate company in terms of market capitalization. It is one of the best real estate stocks in India.

Due to volatile markets and rising interest rates, shares of DLF fell 11% last month. While over the past year, the share price is down by 6%.

Glenmark Life Sciences Q3 update

Moving on to news from the pharma sector, shares of Glenmark Life Sciences were in focus today.

Indian active pharma ingredients maker Glenmark Life Sciences on Friday reported a narrow 1% YoY rise in quarterly profit. This marginal growth was due to its key generic active pharma ingredients (API) segment revenue.

The profit rose to Rs 1.1 bn (US$12.8 m) in the December 2022 quarter from Rs 1 bn a year ago.

The generic API segment, which contributes to almost 90% of the company's revenue, grew 1.8%, benefiting from a capacity expansion at the company's Dahej facility, as well as growth in its regulated markets business.

The expansion for generic API products at the facility was completed with 240 KL capacity and was operational from this quarter.

Growth in this segment managed to offset the 12% YoY jump in input cost and 31% YoY decline in its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) business.

Glenmark Life Sciences is a leading developer and manufacturer of select high-value, non-commoditized Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) in chronic therapeutic areas. It is a subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
 

Dr Reddy's Laboratories launches new eye drop in the US market

Further in the news, the share price of Dr Reddy's Laboratories jumped 2.9% today.

Dr Reddy's Laboratories on Friday announced the launch of Difluprednate Ophthalmic Emulsion.

This medication is used to treat swelling and pain after eye surgery. It will be available in the market in 5 ml bottles in case packs of 24.

According to IQVIA, the Durezol and generic drug had US sales of approximately US$40 m for the most recent twelve months ending in November 2022.

Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's are competing with each other to grab the top spot. 

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