Benchmarks extend losses in early noon session

Indian bourses extended their losses in early noon session, with Sensex losing over 300 points and Nifty falling below the 10,850 level. Heavy sell off in Realty and Basic Materials stocks along with weak cues from other Asian counters weighed on the markets. Besides, broader indices were also trading in red, dragging their larger peers lower during the trade. Markets cooled off with a private report stating that the government’s net revenue growth from direct taxes has decelerated sharply to 4.7% for April 1-August 15 this year as against a required annual growth rate of 17.3%, reflecting lower buoyancy in the wake of an overall slowdown in the economy. Situation at D-Street remained bleak with Care Ratings’ report that the ongoing economic slowdown has started hurting corporates as well, with companies reporting a sharp decline in both revenue and profit growth numbers in the June quarter. India Inc's net sales growth for the June quarter slid to 4.6% as against 13.5% for the same period last year, while the net profit growth moderated to 6.6% as compared to last year's 24.6%.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading mostly in red as the market participants awaited for cues ahead to closely-watched speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the challenges for monetary policy at the Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday. Back on street, in scrip specific developments, shares of DLF fell after the Supreme Court (SC) issued the company a notice based on a plea that alleged the company of hiding information on pending cases regarding Haryana land-bank from its shareholders. Besides, Lupin gained as it has entered into a definitive agreement through its Japanese subsidiary Kyowa (Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry) for the sale of its Japanese Injectables business and related assets in Japan to neo ALA.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 36745.68, down by 314.69 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 36731.48 and 37087.58. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.03%, while Small cap index was down by 1.74%.

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 0.39%, while Realty down by 5.95%, Basic Materials down by 1.77%, Metal down by 1.61%, Oil & Gas down by 1.50%, Energy was down by 1.34% were the losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.22%, TCS up by 0.61%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.40%, ITC up by 0.37% and Bharti Airtel was up by 0.21%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 6.88%, Vedanta down by 3.11%, HDFC down by 2.14%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.86% and NTPC was down by 1.82% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, a joint study carried out by the Confederation of India Industry (CII)-JLL has revealed that investments into Indian real estate have more than tripled to Rs 140,000 crore between 2014 and 2018 as compared to Rs 46,500 crore between 2009 and 2013, largely supported by institutional investments. It noted that institutional investments increased in the past ten years and improved investors confidence, risk appetite and transparency. It added that enhanced use of technology across asset classes have changed the outlook of investors towards Indian real estate.

The report highlighted that the commercial office segment witnessed the maximum share of institutional investments in the past ten years. It indicated that investments in commercial office space rose six-folds to Rs 62,200 crore between 2014 and 2018 as compared to Rs 10,500 crore between 2009 and 2013, on the back of strong office space demand. It added that rise in the development of environmentally sustainable buildings and subsequent demand from occupiers added strength to this trend.

CII-JLL study also said that India’s improving reforms scenario added value to the overall scenario. It said notification of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT) regulations in 2014 led to a deluge of investments in high yielding assets with attractive valuations.  It noted that this was especially in the non-IT office space as most quality IT/ITeS assets were acquired by funds.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 10820.40, down by 98.30 points or 0.90% after trading in a range of 10813.10 and 10908.25. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Britannia Industries up by 3.39%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 1.49%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.24%, TCS up by 0.63% and ITC was up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 7.19%, Indiabulls Housing down by 6.90%, UPL down by 4.46%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.90% and Vedanta was down by 3.22% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 slipped 7.02 points or 0.03% to 20,611.55, KOSPI fell 9.45 points or 0.48% to 1,955.20, Hang Seng decreased 245.56 points or 0.93% to 26,024.48, Shanghai Composite declined 8.81 points or 0.31% to 2,871.52 and Jakarta Composite was down by 31.26 points or 0.5% to 6,221.71.

On the flip side, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 3.98 points or 0.04% to 10,529.78 and Straits Times was up by 5.86 points or 0.19% to 3,128.43.