Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell sharply on Wednesday as the bulls' momentum continued to slowed down at the bourses. Sensex saw a fall of over 535 points while Nifty declined by nearly 150 points.
Apart from profit booking, analysts attribute the trend to weak global and domestic cues as India's manufacturing PMI slowed down. Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said, "Domestic equities continued to witness profit booking on the back of weak global cues and a fall in India’s PMI manufacturing to an 18-month low at 54.9 for December. Overall, we expect the market to consolidate and take a pause before the quarterly results starts, leading to more stock-specific action."
Indian corporates' Q3 earnings are due to be released soon as the markets keenly eye the performance in the festive quarter.
Here are the top stocks to watch on 4 January:
1) Adani Ports: The company announced approval of plans to raise Rs 5,000 crore through non convertible debentures. Its shares gained by 1.58 per cent to close at Rs 1,095.40 on Wednesday.
2) Vedanta: The company has received approval of bondholders to restructure four bonds, two of which were set to mature this year. Its shares gained 2.83 per cent on Wednesday to close at Rs 265.45.
3) Bajaj Auto: The board of the company will decide on the share buyback plan on January 8. Its shares jumped by 4.55 per cent to close Rs 6,968 on Wednesday.
4) Zomato: The firm has initiated the liquidation of its polish subsidiary. The shares of the company declined marginally by 0.74 per cent to close at Rs 127.75.
5) Religare Enterprises: The Burman family has asked for an investigation into allotment of shares to Rashmi Saluja through ESOPs. Its shares fell by 0.58 per cent on Wednesday to close at Rs 214.
