Indian equity benchmarks continue to trade lower led by realty and metal

Sensex and Nifty continue to trade in red with cut of around four percent on account of, sustained selling by funds and retail investors amid weak cues from the Asian markets after British referendum indicated that UK will leave EU. The Sensex underwent its biggest intraday fall in 10 months, trading below the psychological 26,000 mark, while the Nifty was trading below 8000 level. Traders moved from risky assets to safe haven like gold, leading to a rally in gold prices. Marketmen  failed to get any sense of relief with Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government was prepared for the short and medium-term consequences of Brexit. He added that all countries around the world will have to brace themselves for a period of possible turbulence while being watchful about, and alert to, the referendum’s medium term impacts.

On global front, all the Asian equity markets were trading in red, as results of a historic referendum of Britain voting to leave the European Union, sending sterling on a record plunge.

Back home, in scrip specific development, Reliance Communications fell 5.5 percent on a report that it is likely to sign a binding pact with Aircel for a $6 billion merger in around two weeks. Sun Pharmaceuticals rose half a percent after its board approved a proposal to buy back 7.5 million shares from the public at a price of Rs.900 per share.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 25977.71, down by 1024.51 points or 3.79% after trading in a range of 25911.33 and 26367.48. There were 0 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 3.51%, while Small cap index lost 3.87%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 6.56%, Metal down by 6.28%, Auto down by 5.65%, Bankex down by 5.07%, Capital Goods down by 5.04%.

The top losers on the Sensex were Tata Motors down by 11.34%, Tata Steel down by 9.03%, ICICI Bank down by 6.33%, Axis Bank down by 5.91% and Larsen & Toubro down by 5.40%

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the work on the Smart City projects in proposed 20 smart cities, selected in the first round of 'Smart City Challenge Competition’ across the country on June 25, 2016. These 20 cities have proposed a total investment of Rs 48,000 crore in area development and pan-city solutions.

On the day of execution of the scheme, the Prime Minister will launch 14 projects under the Smart City Plan of Pune, besides another 69 such projects will be launched the same day through video conference in the remaining 19 smart cities, entailing a total investment of about Rs.1,770 crore.  Marking the first anniversary of the announcement of the government's flagship programme, Modi will launch the 'Smart City Mission' projects from Pune's 5,000-capacity Shiv Chatrapati Sports Complex. The function will be attended by Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagara Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, among others.

The projects to be launched in Pune and other cities include solid waste management under Swachh Bharat Mission, water supply projects, sewage treatment plants and development of open and green spaces under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation. It also includes housing projects for urban poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and area development and technology based pan-city solutions under Smart Cities Mission.

The prime minister will also inaugurate “Make Your City SMART” contest aimed at involving citizens in various activities, including designing roads, junctions and parks. Suggestions and designs suggested by citizens will be duly incorporated by respective smart cities and winners of this contest will be given rewards in the range of Rs.10,000 to Rs 1 lakh. Modi will also inaugurate a Smart Net Portal, which enables the cities under different urban missions to share ideas during the implementation of various missions. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 7933.15, down by 337.30 points or 4.08% after trading in a range of 7929.15 and 8058.45. There were no stocks in green, while all 51 stocks declined on the index.

The top losers on Nifty were Tata Motors down by 12.56%, Tata Motors - DVR fall by 11.54%, Tata Steel decline by 10.09%, Hindalco down by 9.08% and Aurobindo Pharma down by 7.94%.

The Asian markets were trading in red, Nikkei 225 declined by 1286.33 points or 7.92% to 14,952.02, Hang Seng was down by 905.2 points or 4.34% to 19,963.14, Taiwan Weighted decreased by 199.69 points or 2.3% to 8,476.99, Jakarta Composite dropped by 110.94 points or 2.28% to 4,763.37, KOSPI Index decreased 61.47 points or 3.09% to 1,925.24, Shanghai Composite was lower by 37.33 points or 1.29% to 2,854.63 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI was down by 24.39 points or 1.49% to 1,615.59