Indian markets continued to move in the southward direction in the early noon session, with Sensex and Nifty posting losses of 166 and 56 points respectively due to heavy selling in IT, TECK and Banking stocks. Weakening rupee and negative cues from Asian markets too added some pressure on the markets. Sentiment weakened as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1495.71 crore on October 25, 2018 as per as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. Some concerns came with a private report stating that India’s tight money conditions and fears of a contagion following a debt crisis at a local lender dented demand and put a muzzle on animal spirits in the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Investors also remained pessimistic with a report highlighting that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) imposed a total penalty of Rs 70 lakh on 10 entities for indulging in manipulative trade in the shares of Shree Global Tradefin.
On the global front, all the Asian shares were under pressure on Friday, deepening this week’s markets rout, after disappointing results from Alphabet Inc and Amazon.com heightened concerns over the outlook for U.S. corporate earnings, global trade and economic growth. Back home, a report said that India’s digital economy is likely to cross $1 trillion by the financial year 2022. The report also forecasts that mobile data usage in the country is likely to surge five times by 2023.
The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 33523.70, down by 166.39 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 33332.10 and 33776.80. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.
The broader indices were trading mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.18%, while Small cap index was down by 0.08%.
The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.05%, Telecom up by 0.81%, Auto up by 0.48%, Energy up by 0.34% and Industrials up by 0.32%, while IT down by 1.64%, TECK down by 1.49%, Bankex down by 1.00%, Power down by 0.77% and Utilities down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.
The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 3.48%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.24%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.84%, Tata Steel up by 1.66% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.72%, Axis Bank down by 2.69%, TCS down by 2.22%, Infosys down by 2.13% and NTPC down by 2.07% were the top losers.
Meanwhile, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) in its latest report titled ‘Indian start-up ecosystem - approaching escape velocity’ has stated that Indian startups has registered a 108 percent growth in total funding to $4.2 billion in 2018 as compared to $2 billion in previous year. However, it also said that the worrying factor was the decline in funding for companies at the seed stage. It said “India is becoming a startup hub. Opportunity for growth is enormous, which we had never seen in our lifetime. Challenge is how fast a company wants to transform.”
According to the report, the country added 1,200 new technology startups in 2018 as against 1,000 last year, including eight unicorns, taking the total number to 7,200 startups. However, it noted that the seed stage funding of Indian startups has declined from $191 million in 2017 to $151 million in 2018. Besides, it said “In terms of overall funding, it is a good story. However, we are seeing a continuous decline in seed stage funding of startup companies. If you fall at the seed stage, innovation is hit. It is the area, which needs protection.” It added that there was a 50 percent increase in number of advanced tech startups since 2017.
NASSCOM further said that startup ecosystem has regained momentum after the slowdown in 2016-17. It pointed out that these companies created 40,000 new direct jobs while there was three-fold increase in indirect jobs. It also showed that post 2017, investment into startups has increased by over 100 percent, from $2.03 billion in 2017 to $4.2 billion in 2018. Adding further, it noted that the total number of startup funding deals, especially in the late stages, witnessed a massive growth of around 250 percent from $847 million in 2017 to $3 billion in 2018
The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10068.55, down by 56.35 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 10004.55 and 10122.35. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.
The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 3.48%, Titan Co up by 2.60%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.91%, Tata Steel up by 1.69% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.05%, HCL Tech. down by 3.14%, BPCL down by 2.96%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.95% and Axis Bank down by 2.87% were the top losers.
All the Asian markets were trading in red; Straits Times decreased 46.60 points or 1.57% to 2,966.24, Nikkei 225 fell 84.13 points or 0.4% to 21,184.60, Hang Seng plunged 248.560 points or 1% to 24,745.90, Taiwan Weighted slipped 31.61 points or 0.33% to 9,489.18, KOSPI lost 38.12 points or 1.88% to 2,025.18, Shanghai Composite declined 11.59 points or 0.45% to 2,592.21 and Jakarta Composite was down 3.07 points or 0.05% to 5,751.90.
