Stock Market Highlights: Sensex ends 575 pts lower, Nifty below 17,650 ahead of RBI policy; HDFC twins, Titan fall 2-3%

Thank you, readers! That's all from CNBCTV18.com's live market coverage on April 7, 2022. Stay tuned for other updates on our website: CNBCTV18.com.

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RBI may not hike rates on Friday: Ambareesh Baliga

Market expert Ambareesh Baliga is of the view that the RBI may not increase rates on Friday. "I just hope it doesn't become like fuel prices that you just hold on for long and then you have aggressive increases. I just hope that doesn't happen at the RBI, and it look at doing it gradually starting from tomorrow," he says. 

Rupee ends lower at 75.96 vs US dollar ahead of MPC meet outcome

The rupee finishes the day at 75.96 against the greenback. On Wednesday, it had settled at 75.76.

Market At Close | HDFC twins extend losses; IT stocks fall ahead of earnings season

Here are some highlights: 

--HDFC Bank, HDFC fall for 3rd straight day, erase gains seen post-merger announcement

--IT stocks continue to decline ahead of earnings; Nifty IT down 1 percent

--Titan slips 3 percent, Godrej Consumer rises 4 percent following Q4 updates

--Nifty Bank relatively outperforms; Axis Bank, ICICI Bank top gainers

--Escorts, IDFC, Nalco, Tata Power, Nippon Life top midcap losers

--Zee Entertainment slips 5 percent from day’s high following stake sale by Invesco

--Defence cos rise; BEL gains 7 percent on new list of indigenous equipment

--Market breadth in favour of bears; advance-decline ratio at 4:5

Adani Ports, Titan, HDFC twins, ONGC, TCS top blue-chip laggards

Wipro, PowerGrid, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and Larsen & Toubro also among the top losers. On the other hand, Axis Bank, Divi's, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Dr Reddy's Tech Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra rise the most among the 22 gainers in the Nifty50 basket. 

Disclaimer: Network18, the parent company of CNBCTV18.com, is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.

Here's what the 30-scrip pack looks like:

Closing Bell | Sensex down 575 pts, Nifty50 slides below 17,650 ahead of RBI policy

The Sensex finishes the day 575.5 points or one percent lower at 59,035 and the Nifty50 settles at 17,639.6, down 168.1 points or 0.9 percent from its previous close -- both extending gains to the third day in a row. Heavyweights such as the HDFC twins, TCS and Infosys the biggest drags on both headline gauges. 

Bullish on logistics space: Viraj Mehta

Viraj Mehta, Managing Director-PMS at Equirus, is "absolutely bullish" on the overall logistics space. "We do own a logistics company; we don't own VRL but another logistics company. In the last two years, a lot of the smaller logistic players have got completely wiped out in terms of the ability to maintain the fleet and to completely get the full load at the truck level, which means the margins have been hit for some of the smaller surface express providers... That has meant that the larger guys like TCI and Gati, which will be able to maintain higher yields, would mean and translate into higher gross margins," he says. 

"I am absolutely certain that some of these larger pan-India players will keep taking market share from some of the smaller guys, and the opportunity here is absolutely immense. If you pick up a good guy with reasonable visibility, SME and retail penetration, and small key accounts, this can be an extremely profitable space for the company as well as investors with a 3-4 year view," he adds. 

Mehta likes both TCI and Gati but will own the latter at the fund level.

Ukraine seeks 'long-term solutions' to help it win war with Russia

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says his country is seeking "long-term solutions" to help it win the war with Russia. "I came here today to discuss three most important things: weapons, weapons and weapons. Ukraine’s urgent needs, the sustainability of supplies, and long-term solutions which will help Ukraine to prevail," Kuleba wrote in a tweet which he said was sent from NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Catch latest from CNBCTV18.com's coverage of Russia-Ukraine war

Nothing attractive in midcaps: Deven Choksey

Deven Choksey of KRChoksey is of the view that there is nothing attractive in the midcap segment at the current juncture. "Though some of the valuations have corrected from the peak, I wouldn't say that they've become quite attractive," he says.

They may have corrected from premium valuations to slightly premium valuations but are not something worth buying, he says. 

IRCTC shares under pressure for 2nd day 

Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corp (IRCTC) shares remain under pressure for a second straight day amid reports that the government is working on an offer for sale (OFS) to trim its holding in the company.

CNBC-TV18 has learnt that the government is likely to sell a 3.5 percent stake in IRCTC to raise nearly Rs 3,000 crore through the OFS. The government holds more than 67 percent in the Indian Railways arm. (Read more on IRCTC shares)

RBI Policy | Rate-sensitive stocks mixed ahead of MPC meet outcome

Nifty50 below 5 DMA

The Nifty50 down 165 pts at 17,643 as the market enters the last hour of trade. At this level, the 50-scrip benchmark is 186 points below its five-day simple moving average. 

It is, however, more than 500 points above its 200-day level. 

HDFC twins continue to slide for 3rd day, give up most of merger announcement day gains

Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC) and HDFC Bank shares continue to decline for the third session in a row, giving up nearly all of their gains on Monday after the financial services majors announced a merger between them.

HDFC shares fall by as much as Rs 70.5 or 2.8 percent to Rs 2,515 apiece. The HDFC Bank stock drops by Rs 33.8 or 2.2 percent to Rs 1,517.1.

On Monday, the announcement of the merger had triggered a jump of almost 10 percent in the stocks -- their biggest intraday gains in 13 years.

Like economic recovery theme for next 12 months: Unmesh Sharma

Unmesh Sharma, Head-Institutional Equities at HDFC Securities, likes the domestic economic recovery theme for the next 12 months. "We continue to be positive on economic-facing sectors, which we went positive on about six months ago: industrials, power and real estate," he says. 

He also likes the urban low ticket growth theme. "To a large extent, driven by the fact that there is significant growth in the IT sector, local low ticket consumption plus real estate in relevant markets is something that we like," he adds. 

RBI to announce outcome of first policy review of FY23 on Friday