Key gauges extend losses; Sensex breaches 37,600 mark

Domestic gauges extended losses to trade with a cut of around a percent in noon deals, as traders remained pessimistic on account of weak corporate results, while bond yields fell after the Finance Minister's comments in a media interview that the government did not intend to review its overseas borrowing plan. Traders also remained concerned with the latest depositories data showing that reversing their five-month buying trend, overseas investors have pressed the exit button in July and pulled out a net Rs 3,758 crore from the Indian capital markets on account of multiple headwinds, including the super-rich tax announced in Budget 2019-20.

Weakness in Asian counters too weighed down sentiments, as markets look forward to a likely cut in the US interest rates this week and whether or not the Federal Reserve signals yet more are in the pipeline. Back home, selling in auto space dampened sentiments. Most of the auto stocks edged lower amid weak June quarter results and reports of the government planning to hike registration charges on new vehicles. In scrip specific developments, shares of Indiabulls group companies remained under pressure after Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing the group of laundering more than Rs 1 lakh crore. The group, however, rejected the charges.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 37547.54, down by 335.25 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 37519.16 and 38043.22. There were 5 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.97%, while Small cap index was down by 0.99%.

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was IT up by 0.17%, while Telecom down by 2.88%, Auto down by 2.76%, Metal down by 2.33%, Basic Materials down by 2.23% and Capital Goods was down by 1.75% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.16%, HCL Tech up by 0.55%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.55%, Infosys up by 0.32% and TCS was up by 0.30%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 4.54%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 4.30%, Vedanta down by 4.30%, Tata Motors down by 3.94% and Maruti Suzuki was down by 2.89% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, asking the telecom industry to focus on innovation around 5G technology to create products with India specific patents, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that India must become a centre of telecom equipment manufacturing and low cost telecom products.

The Minister exhorted the telecom sector to make India a hub for telecom equipment manufacturing, further adding that India is on its way to become a global power with march of technology. He also said that India generates huge amount of data and has a potential to emerge as global hub for data analysis, data innovation and data refinery while prioritising privacy.

Besides, Telecom Minister wants mobile sector to ensure that start-ups should be encouraged more & more and mobile sector to work in conjunction with start-ups. He asked the industry to come with innovative 5G products in areas like mobile, healthcare, agriculture and other sectors which have potential to reap its benefit.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11160.50, down by 123.80 points or 1.10% after trading in a range of 11152.40 and 11310.95. There were 6 stocks advancing against 44 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 3.14%, HCL Tech up by 0.74%, Tech Mahindra up by 0.47%, Infosys up by 0.26% and TCS was up by 0.23%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing down by 7.99%, Grasim Industries down by 6.25%, Bharti Infratel down by 4.83%, Bajaj Auto down by 4.63% and Vedanta was down by 4.42% were the top losers.

All Asian markets were trading in red; Hang Seng decreased 421.86 points or 1.49% to 27,975.88, Nikkei 225 slipped 41.35 points or 0.19% to 21,616.80, Straits Times trembled 27.21 points or 0.81% to 3,336.55, Jakarta Composite lost 25.00 points or 0.4% to 6,300.24, Taiwan Weighted dropped 6.25 points or 0.06% to 10,885.73, KOSPI fell 36.78 points or 1.78% to 2,029.48 and Shanghai Composite was down by 5.36 points or 0.18% to 2,939.18.