Indices continue to move in red territory; Sensex plunges 385 points

Indian equity indices continued to move in the red territory and added losses in the early noon session, with Sensex and Nifty plunging 385 and 114 points, respectively, as investors were cautious ahead of the last session of October month expiry in the derivatives segment. Sentiments remain dampened on the back of weakening rupee and global markets rout. Besides, all the sectoral indices except IT were trading in the negative terrain on the NSE, led by realty, PSU Bank and metal. Broader markets were too trading in red terrain and the market breadth on BSE was negative; out of 2281 stocks traded, 608 stocks advanced, while 1567 stocks declined and 106 remain unchanged on the BSE. Sentiments weakened further as provisional data from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 2046.54 crore on October 25, 2018. Market-men remained concerned with a private report highlighting that the latest government data shows that during the first six months of the financial year, trade deficit in oil already touched $46.6 billion, up 67% from 27.9 billion during the same period in 2017-18.

On the global front, Asian shares were trading mostly in red as hundreds of billions of dollars hemorrhaged from global markets after a rout in tech stocks inflicted the largest daily decline on Wall Street since 2011, wiping out all its gains for the year. Back home, aviation sector remain in focus with global airlines' body IATA stating that India will become the world's third largest aviation market around 2024 surpassing the UK.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33648.25, down by 385.71 points or 1.13% after trading in a range of 33553.18 and 33807.93. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.35%, while Small cap index down by 1.56%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.63%, Metal down by 1.84%, Basic Materials down by 1.83%, Telecom down by 1.68% and Industrials down by 1.59%, while there were no gainers on the BSE sectoral front.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Wipro up by 2.38%, Asian Paints up by 0.70%, TCS up by 0.53%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.32% and ONGC up by 0.32%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 4.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 3.31%, Vedanta down by 3.28%, SBI down by 2.43% and Tata Motors down by 2.40% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to monitor Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with associated targets, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given green signal to constitute a high-level steering committee for reviewing and refining the National Indicator Framework (NIF). The committee will be chaired by chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). Secretaries of data source ministries and NITI Aayog will be the members of the committee while the Secretaries of other related ministries will be the special invitees.

The SDGs target includes measures to mainstream SDGs into ongoing national policies, programmes and strategic action plans to address the developmental challenges. SDGs integrate economic, social and environmental dimensions of development. They intend eradicating poverty and promoting prosperity in a changing world with the basic motto of 'Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas'.

SDGs with 17 Goals and 169 Targets intend to promote sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth, creating greater opportunities for all, reducing inequalities, raising basic standards of living, fostering equitable social development and inclusion, promoting integrated and sustainable management of natural resources and ecosystems.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10110.10, down by 114.65 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 10079.30 and 10159.55. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 2.43%, Asian Paints up by 1.04%, TCS up by 0.69%, IOC up by 0.55% and ONGC up by 0.22%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 6.55%, Adani Ports down by 4.52%, Vedanta down by 3.47%, Hindalco down by 3.42% and Bharti Airtel down by 3.01% were the top losers.

Asian shares were trading mostly in red; Straits Times decreased 40.31 points or 1.35% to 2,991.77, Nikkei 225 decreased 822.45 points or 3.87% to 21,268.73, Hang Seng decreased 492.880 points or 1.99% to 24,756.90, Shanghai Composite decreased 40.97 points or 1.6% to 2,562.33, Taiwan Weighted decreased 238.61 points or 2.51% to 9,520.79 and KOSPI decreased 45.69 points or 2.23% to 2,051.89.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite increased 2.15 points or 0.04% to 5,711.57.