Stock markets add losses; Sensex tanks over 100 points

Indian markets added losses in the early noon session with Nifty and Sensex losing over 30 and 100 points respectively, due to profit-booking at higher levels by funds and retail investors. Hefty selling pressure remained evident across the board with Consumer Durables, Auto and Consumer Disc counters losing the most. The markets were also under pressure as sharp selling was witnessed in frontline blue chip stocks such as Yes Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Asian Paints among others. Besides, both mid and small cap indices were trading in negative territory. A feeble trend in Asian markets and weak rupee also dampened the domestic sentiments. Traders paid no heed to a report which stated that India’s economic activity is picking up, boosted by a long-awaited recovery in consumption that’s helped cut down slack in the economy and underpinned sales of everything from cars to housing.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red on the last trading day of the week as uncertainty over U.S.-China trade relations lingered. Back home, real estate sector was in focus as the joint report by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and property consultant JLL has indicated that the real estate sector in India attracted an investment of around Rs 24,011 crore during the first half of 2018 (H1 2018), boosted by a rise in consumer confidence on account of the implementation of the Real Estate. In scrip specific development, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts slipped on reporting 58% fall in Q1 net profit.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37918.89, down by 105.48 points or 0.28% after trading in a range of 37879.83 and 38051.45. There were 11 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.33%, while Small cap index down by 0.32%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.44%, Auto up by 0.36%, Consumer Disc up by 0.26%, Realty up by 0.24%, while Metal down by 1.11%, PSU down by 0.94%, Utilities down by 0.78%, Energy down by 0.76%, Basic Materials down by 0.69% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 1.84%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.60%, Asian Paints up by 1.22%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.21% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.06%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.40%, Coal India down by 2.00%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.99%, SBI down by 1.86% and ICICI Bank down by 1.70% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the joint report by industry body the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and property consultant JLL has indicated that the real estate sector in India attracted an investment of around Rs 24,011 crore during the first half of 2018 (H1 2018), boosted by a rise in consumer confidence on account of the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act or RERA and stable capital values.

According to a CII-JLL report, IT parks and commercial real estate got the biggest investment share of $2,000 million or around Rs 13,151 crore, followed by retail real estate at around $300 million or Rs 1898 crore. It also noted that the year 2017 witnessed some large deals between institutional investors and Indian companies, with private equity investments in real estate touching $44 billion.

The report further anticipated that investment flows will continue on a healthy course and this has been substantiated by the H1 data of 2018 with cumulative PE investments crossing $45 billion. Besides, it showed that housing sales in India’s top seven cities rose 25 percent in the first half of 2018, which have started to show an upward trend. 

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11435.05, down by 35.65 points or 0.31% after trading in a range of 11427.90 and 11478.75. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 3.40%, Yes Bank up by 2.15%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.91%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.12% and Asian Paints up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.53%, SBI down by 2.30%, Coal India down by 2.09%, ICICI Bank down by 1.98% and Grasim Industries down by 1.77% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Straits Times decreased 43.04 points or 1.31% to 3,283.70, Nikkei 225 decreased 300.31 points or 1.35% to 22,298.08, KOSPI decreased 20.75 points or 0.91% to 2,282.96, Taiwan Weighted decreased 44.39 points or 0.4% to 10,983.68, Hang Seng decreased 258.10 points or 0.91% to 28,349.20 and Shanghai Composite decreased 10.02 points or 0.36% to 2,784.36.

Bucking the trend, Jakarta Composite increased 28.14 points or 0.46% to 6,093.40.