Bears tighten grip on Dalal Street

Key Indian equity benchmarks continued their lackluster trade in late afternoon session, as bears tightened their grip on the Dalal street, following weak opening in European markets. The major indices the Sensex and the Nifty were falling more than 400 and 100 points, respectively, while Realty was the top loser among all the sectoral indices. Besides, the broader markets too remained under pressure in noon deals with the losses of more than 1.50% each. Traders were concerned with a report stating that handling the emerging frauds in the banking sector coupled with likely ripple effects, muted GST collections and the protectionist policy imposed by the US are some of the factors that are likely to keep risk to growth elevated. Sentiments also remained downbeat, as another private report highlighted that India has emerged as one of the Asian economies most vulnerable in an environment of rising interest rates in the US. Traders took note of Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that the world is facing serious challenges as the US is taking protectionist measures and India needs to explore ways to boost exports.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, as rising tensions between the United States and China stoked fears of a global trade war. Asian markets were also trading in red. Back home, in scrip specific development, Dilip Buildcon (DBL) moved up after it has been declared as Lowest (L-1) bidder for a new Hybrid Annuity Project valued at Rs 936 crore by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in the State of Telangana.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 32603.46, down by 402.81 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 32483.84 and 32720.03. There were 5 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.66%, while Small cap index was down by 1.85%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.10% and TECK up by 0.08%, while Realty down by 3.38%, Metal down by 3.10%, Basic Materials down by 2.47%, Bankex down by 2.11% and Healthcare down by 1.70% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Asian Paints up by 0.76%, Infosys up by 0.60%, Coal India up by 0.35%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.29% and NTPC up by 0.18%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 4.01%, Yes Bank down by 3.81%, SBI down by 3.27%, Tata Steel down by 2.82% and ICICI Bank down by 2.43% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, highlighting a significant role of services sector in economic development, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that the government is working on a strategy to boost share of services in exports. He also said that services exports will grow faster than merchandise exports and thus raising the total exports from the country.

Prabhu underlined various efforts being taken by the government to boost exports like focus on adding new products into the export basket and identification of 12 champion services sectors to promote them domestically as well as globally. He also said that Rs 5,000 crore fund allocation to promote 12 champion services will drive growth of the services economy in the country.

Commerce and Industry Minister further suggested that the industry must focus on delivering services of global standards and pointed out that the country’s chemical sector has huge growth potential and it needs to create capacity to meet exports demand. He also highlighted policies being formulated for various sectors like aviation, agri- export and industrial policy to promote the country’s exports.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10001.35, down by 113.40 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 9951.90 and 10027.70. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech up by 2.55%, Zee Entertainment up by 1.73%, Bharti Infratel up by 1.40%, Asian Paints up by 0.91% and Tech Mahindra up by 0.55%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 5.30%, Vedanta down by 4.88%, Yes Bank down by 3.94%, Axis Bank down by 3.82% and SBI down by 3.10% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Nikkei 225 decreased 974.13 points or 4.51% to 20,617.86, Hang Seng decreased 761.76 points or 2.45% to 30,309.29, Taiwan Weighted decreased 182.51 points or 1.66% to 10,823.33, Shanghai Composite decreased 110.72 points or 3.39% to 3,152.76, Jakarta Composite decreased 97.34 points or 1.56% to 6,156.73, KOSPI Index decreased 79.26 points or 3.18% to 2,416.76 and FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI decreased 13.43 points or 0.72% to 1,863.44.

All European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 167.49 points or 1.38% to 11,932.59, France’s CAC decreased 68.2 points or 1.32% to 5,099.01 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 47.61 points or 0.68% to 6,904.98.