Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Shree Cement hit 52-week lows

Share prices of four Nifty 50 companies–Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Shree Cement– hit their respective 52-week lows on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Monday’s intra-day trade as the Nifty benchmark index shed over 2 per cent.

At 10:43 am; the Nifty50 and the S&P BSE Sensex were down 2.5 per cent each. The Nifty 50 index hit an intra-day low of 15,749.90, just 2 per cent away from its 52-week low level of 15,450.90 touched on June 18, 2021.

Bajaj Finserv, Grasim Industries, Wipro, Axis Bank, Infosys, Asian Paints, Hindalco Industries, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), HDFC Bank and BPLC were also trading close to their 52-week lows on the NSE.

Besides, a total of 46 stocks from the Nifty500 index also hit their respective 52-week lows on the NSE today. The list includes Astral, Birla Corporation, CSB Bank, LIC Housing Finance, SpiceJet, NMDC, Rallis India and UTI AMC.

Equity markets across the globe are witnessing a sell-off after the US May inflation data accelerated to four decades high, which raised concerns about aggressive rate hikes by the US Fed in the upcoming monetary policy meet due this Wednesday.

“US treasury yields surged to 14-year high at 3.15 per cent, while the dollar index spiked above 104 levels. US futures are also down around one per cent. On the domestic side, India’s inflation data is due today on account of which nervousness is likely to be seen in the market. Apart from these market would continue to remain cautious ahead of various central banks meetings in this week,” said Hemang Jani, Head Equity Strategy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Meanwhile, cement shares also continued to reel under pressure following UltraTech Cement’s June 2 announcement about its capex plan for addition of 22.6 million tonnes (MT) of capacity. Shares of UltraTech Cement hit a fresh 52-week low of Rs 5,360, down 3 per cent today in intra-day trade. The stock price has declined 11 per cent since the company announced the capex plan.

In an other development, most of the cement companies have mentioned that their variable cost/ton is likely to increase by 10-15 per cent sequentially in April-June quarter (Q1FY23). In current times of weak demand, high fuel costs and entry of a new player (Adani group), any significant capacity announcement may be viewed negatively by the market, according to analysts.

Tata Steel too hit a fresh 52-week low of Rs 991.25, down 3 per cent in intra-day trade. In the past three months, the stock has slipped 24 per cent as against a 5 per cent decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Last month, the government had levied export duty on 11 iron and steel intermediates and key steel products. The government levied export duty of 15 per cent on almost all the major steel products (including stainless steel).

Bajaj Finance slipped 5 per cent to hit a 52-week low of Rs 5,387 on the NSE. The stock of the non-banking finance company has fallen below its previous low of Rs 5,491 touched on May 16, 2022.

Dear Reader,

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor