Sensex slides 330 points on Moody’s downgrade; Sun Pharma down 4%


Equity market was highly volatile in the afternoon session on Friday with the benchmark indices oscillating berween the positive and negative territories after Moody’s Investors Services downgraded India’s sovereign outlook from ‘stable’ to ‘negative’, saying concerns mount the economic slowdown will be prolonged and debt will rise.

After hitting a fresh record high of 40741.69 levels during the session, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex was trading around 100 points lower. Private Banks were trading higher, with ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and YES Bank up in the range of 3-7 per cent. On the downside, Sun Pharma was trading nearly 3 per cent lower.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 slipped below the crucial 12,000-mark to hover around 11,950 levels. .

Sectorally, Nifty Realty index was the top gainer, up 2.3 per cent, followed by gains in Nifty Private Bank (up 0.74 per cent), and Nifty Auto (up 0.58 per cent) indices. On the flipside, Nifty Pharma and FMCG indices, each, were trading over a per cent lower.

The broader markets, however, were trading in the green. The S&P BSE mid-cap index was up 0.06 per cent, while the S&P BSE small-cap index was up 0.12 per cent.

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Sensex gains 264 points ahead of FM’s media briefing, Q1 GDP nos.


Domestic indices remained volatile on Friday, but surged in the last trading hour, ahead of the June quarter GDP numbers, that were scheduled to be released later in the day. Further, reports of a likely announcement by the Finance Ministry on merger of public sector banks (PSBs) increased buying interest at the counters. That apart, hopes of face-to-face trade talks between the United States and China helped ease market sentiment.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled 264 points, or 0.71 per cent, higher at 37,333 level, lifted by HDFC twins, ITC, ICICI Bank, and Hindustan Unilever. All the index heavyweights were up in the range of 1-3 per cent. YES Bank, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, and Tata Steel ended the day as top gainers, while Power Grid, ONGC, HCL Tech, and Larsen and Toubro closed as top laggards. Meanwhile, the broader Nifty50 ended at 11,023-mark, up 75 points or 0.68 per cent.

Sectorally, all the indices ended in the green. Nifty Pharma index ended the day as top gainer, up 2.4 per cent, followed by Nifty Metal index, up 1.8 per cent.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index closed at 13,468 level, up 134 points, or 1.01 per cent. The S&P BSE SmallCap index closed at 12,535 level, up 104 points, or 0.84 per cent.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to address media later in the day, where she is likely to announce mega plan for merging multiple set of public sector banks (PSB).

The department of financial services in the finance ministry called a meeting, on Friday, with chief executives of ten public sector banks which are seen as top contenders for merger. The banks invited for consultations on Friday are: Union Bank of India, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, United Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, United Bank, Allahabad Bank, Corporation Bank, Syndicate Bank and Andhra Bank.

Shares of PSBs were trading mixed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday afternoon. Oriental Bank of Commerce, Central Bank of India, Syndicate Bank and Allahabad Bank were up in the range of 3 per cent to 6 per cent on the NSE. On the other hand, State Bank of India (SBI), Union Bank of India, Bank of India, Indian Bank and Bank of Baroda were down between 1 and 2 per cent.

HDFC AMC, Infosys, Bata India, Asian Paints, Berger Paints among BSE500 index stocks that hit record highs in today’s session.

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Sensex ends 100 points up after a volatile day; Nifty below 11,000


Fresh trade war concerns between the United States and China weighed down investors’ sentiment on Friday leading to a sluggish trade through the day. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and the broader Nifty50 plummeted 411 points and 131 points respectively during the intra-day trade before staging a smart recovery during the last trading hour.

Indices inched higher on reports that the PMO took stock of the steep sell-off being witnessed in the market since the presentation of the Union Budget 2019-20. Reports suggested that PMO met officials from the Finance Ministry on Thursday to discuss concerns raised by the FPIs and even considered proposals submitted by them.

The Sensex closed at 37,118 level, up 100 points, or 0.27 per cent with Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto, and Maruti being the top gainers. On the other hand, Tata Steel, SBI, Vedanta, and ONGC ended the day with steep losses. The broader Nifty50 failed to hold the psychological 11,000-mark to end at 10,997, up 17 points, or 0.16 per cent.

In the broader markets, S&P BSE Mid-cap closed at 13,547 level, up 20 points, or 0.15 per cent while the S&P BSE Small-cap settled 55 points, or 0.44 per cent, lower at 12,496 level.

Sectorally, metals slipped the most as risks to global economy increased after US President Donald Trump imposed fresh tariffs Chinese imports. The index dipped 2.16 per cent at close, followed by Nifty PSU Bank, down 1.12 per cent. Among the gainers, Nifty Auto index ended 1.26 per cent higher, followed by Nifty IT index, which gained 0.57 per cent on the back of weaker rupee.

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Sensex, Nifty end flat on a choppy day; IT stocks drag


Benchmark indices ended Friday’s session with marginal cuts after erasing its intraday gains in the final hour. IT stocks remained subdued throughout the day after the US-based IT services company Cognizant nearly halved its 2019 growth guidance.

The intra-day rise in the indices was spurred by a slip in oil prices with financial stocks gaining the most, before the indices retreated to trade flat in the end.

S&P BSE Sensex settled 18 points lower for the day at 38,963, with TCS, Hindustan Unilever, TATA Steel, HCL Tech and Infosys being the top drags. Twelve out of the 30 constituents of the BSE ended the day in red.

The broader Nifty50 was also down 12.5 points, or 0.11 per cent, to end at 11,712 levels. The market breadth was tilted in favour of declines. About 1,031 stocks fell and 702 shares advanced on National Stock Exchange.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index was the biggest loser, down almost 1.9 per cent while the Nifty FMCG index also slipped 1.13 per cent. On the other hand, Nifty Realty index and Nifty PSU Bank index gained 1.57 per cent and 1.09 per cent, respectively.

On a weekly basis, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.27 per cent lower while and the NSE Nifty50 slipped 0.36 per cent. This was the indices’ biggest weekly loss since February 11.

The volatility index, VIX, ended the day 4.35 percent higher at 23.98.

The broader market took the cue from benchmark indices to end flat. The S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 15 points, or 0.10 per cent, at 14,783, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended the day at 14,548, down 45 points, or 0.31 per cent.

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Sensex recovers 212 points from day’s low, Nifty ends at 11643


Buying in select bluechip counters such as ITC, Maruti, ICICI Bank and Infosys helped benchmark indices to settle in the positive territory on Friday.

The S&P BSE Sensex recovered 212 points from day’s low to settle at 38,767, up 160 points or 0.41 per cent. FMCG major ITC emerged as the top gainer on the index with over 3 per cent gains while Tata Motors (down over 1 per cent) ened as the biggest loser.

The broader Nifty50 index of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) settled at 11,643.45, up 47 points or 0.40 per cent, with 27 constituents advancing and 23 declining.

On a weekly basis, Sensex lost 0.24 per cent while Nifty settled with 0.19 per cent decline.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index gained 44 points or 0.29 per cent to end at 15,426 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index added 56 points or 0.37 per cent to end at 15,022.

Sectorally, all the indices ended in the green with media stocks gaining the most, followed by FMCG and auto. The Nifty Media index gained over 1 per cent to end at 2,443 level.

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Sensex recovers 300 points from day’s low to settle at 35,809


Benchmark indices ended marginally lower on Friday led by a decline in HDFC, HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma and Axis Bank.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,809, down 67 points or 0.19 per cent, while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,724, down 22 points or 0.20 per cent.

Among the sectorial indices, the Nifty Pharma index ended 3.1 per cent lower led a fall in Glenmark and Lupin. The Nifty Metal index settled 2.07 per cent lower weighed by JSW Steel and Welspun Corp.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index ended 167 points, or 1.18 per cent lower at 13,941, while S&P BSE SmallCap index fell 111 points, or 0.83 per cent to settle at 13,253.

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Sensex tumbles 792 points on Friday; RBI holds rates; rupee hits 74.22/$


Markets ended lower on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sprung a surprise and kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent. Most experts had expected the central bank to hike rates by 25 bps.

The S&P BSE Sensex lost 792 points, or 2.25 per cent, to settle at 34,377 while the broader NSE’s Nifty50 index dropped 283 points, or 2.7 per cent, to close at 10,316. Among specific stocks, shares of oil marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOCL hit 52-week lows after the government announced that it will cut excise duties on petrol and diesel prices and OMCs will absorb Re 1 per litre.

Heavy losses were also visible in banking stocks with the Nifty Bank index slipping 1.5 per cent. YES Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of Baroda (BoB), IDFC Bank and ICICI Bank lost up to 5.1 per cent.

Earlier, the monetary policy committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank on Friday kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50 per cent in its fourth bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2018-19. The central bank changed the policy stance to ‘Calibrated tightening’ from ‘Neutral’. Calibrated tightening means rate will be maintained or hiked in this cycle.

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Indices end lower, Nifty settles at 10,930; YES Bank falls 9%


The benchmark indices ended marginally lower on Friday, weighed down by automobile and information (IT) stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 36,227, down 97 points, while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,930, down 47 points.

In sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index settled 1.1 per cent lower due to a fall in the shares of Infibeam Avenues which crashed 71 per cent to end at Rs 57.90. The Nifty Auto Index, too, fell 2.3 per cent driven by fall in Hero MotoCorp, Apollo Tyres and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Among individual stocks, YES Bank stock fell 9.5 per cent to Rs 183.90 on the BSE. The stock had hit an intraday low of Rs 166.15.

In broader markets, the shares of midcap and smallcap companies continued to remain under pressure on Friday as well, with the S&P BSE Midcap (14,762) and the S&P BSE Smallcap (14,643) indices hitting their respective 52-week lows in intra-day trade on the BSE.

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Sensex tanks 2.5%, down 839 pts, Nifty ends below 10,800 on Budget woes


Benchmark indices tumbled on Friday as the long-term capital gains tax on equities investments dampened sentiment, while bonds slid for a second consecutive session on worries the central bank would become more hawkish on inflation.

The weak sentiment came a day after the government unveiled its budget for the year starting in April that raised spending for rural sectors and healthcare, widening the fiscal deficit target to 3.3% of gross domestic product from the previous 3.0%. The government also unveiled a 10 percent tax on long-term capital gains in equity markets.

Investors worried that higher spending and the government’s move to raise minimum support prices for crops could lead to higher retail prices at a time when consumer price inflation has already hit a 17-month high of 5.21%, well above the Reserve Bank of India’s target of 4%.

BHEL, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finance and Tata Power lost the most on both indices, while TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Tech were the top gainers.

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