The frontline indices traded with major losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty traded below the 22,450 mark after hitting the day’s high of 22,794.70 in early trade. Barring the Nifty Healthcare index, all the other sectoral indices on the NSE were in red.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 908.63 points or 1.26% to 73,684.34. The Nifty 50 index fell 231.25 points or 1.02% to 22,416.95. The Nifty 50 reached an all-time high of 22,794.70 during early trade.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index shed 0.30% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.73%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,277 shares rose and 2,450 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged

The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, climbed 10.07% to 13.45.

Gainers & Losers:

Caol India (up 2.97%), Bajaj Finance (up 1.83%), Grasim Industries (up 1.36%), DR Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.19%) and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (up 1.13%) were major Nifty gainers.

Bharti Airtel (down 3.22%), Reliance Industries (down 2.83%), Nestle India (down 2.40%), Larsen & Toubro (down 2.32%) and JSW Steel (down 2.21%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Coforge tumbled 9.51% after IT company’s consolidated net profit decreased 6.01% to Rs 223.7 crore on in Q4 FY24 as compared to Rs 238 crore in Q3 FY24. Revenue from operations stood at Rs 2,358.5 crore in fourth quarter of FY24, registering a growth of 1.52%.

Ajanta Pharma rallied 6.51% after the pharmaceutical company reported 65.82% jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 203 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared with Rs 122 crore in Q4 FY23. Revenue increased 19.53% YoY to Rs 1,054.08 crore in Q4 FY24.

JBM Auto shed 0.88%. The JBM Group company’s consolidated net profit surged 98.61% to Rs 55.75 crore in Q4 FY24 as against Rs 28.07 crore in Q4 FY23. Revenue from operations jumped 47.11% year on year (YoY) to Rs 1,485.95 crore in the quarter ended 31 March 2024.

CEAT declined 3.89% after the company’s consolidated net profit fell 18.80% to Rs 108.56 crore in Q4 FY24 as compared net to Rs 133.70 crore posted in corresponding quarter last year. Revenue from operations increased 4.07% to Rs 2,991.85 crore in Q4 FY24 as against revenue of Rs 2,874.82 crore posted in Q4 FY23.

Bajaj Finance added 1.71% after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lifted restrictions on the sanction and disbursal of new loans under 'eCOM' and online/digitally on 'Insta EMI Card'.

Global Markets:

European stocks advanced while Asian stocks traded mixed on Friday as investors look ahead to the release of key U.S. employment data later today. Stock markets in Japan and mainland China were shut for public holidays.

The employment data release will be closely watched by the trading community after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at the end of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.

The Japanese yen was still in focus as it continued to show strength against the U.S. dollar amid suspected government intervention to support the currency on Monday.

Stocks in the U.S. closed higher on Thursday as investors looked ahead to more earnings as well as the nonfarm payrolls report set to be released on Friday.