MARKET WRAP: Sensex slips 811 pts, Nifty ends at 3-yr low; ZEEL slides 20%

All that happened in markets today

4:06 PM

Here's how sectoral indices on the NSE performed

4:05 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Top losers and gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:44 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 30,579, down 811 points or 2.58 per cent while NSE's Nifty ended at 8,967 levels, down 230 points or 2.5 per cent.

3:22 PM

MARKET STRATEGY :: IIFL

At present, we would play it safe, but considering the recent correction, we would be a bit more inclined to assume risk and, hence, replace Power Grid in our large-cap top picks with Maruti. And so, our top picks are Bharti, HUVR, ICICI Bank, Maruti, SBI Life and ICICI Lombard. We would limit mid-caps, as before, to Deepak Nitrite, Navin Flourine and Gujarat Gas

3:19 PM

NEWS ALERT | Muthoot Fin announces interim dividend of Rs 15 apiece

3:11 PM

Goldman slashes China growth forecast; imported coronavirus cases rise

Goldman Sachs said on Tuesday that China’s economy will likely shrink 9 per cent in the first quarter, underscoring how the coronavirus has disrupted normal business activities, even as China reported a rise in new cases of the disease, most of them imported. Goldman cut its estimate for China’s first-quarter gross domestic product growth to a 9 per cent contraction, from a previous forecast of 2.5 per cent growth, citing “strikingly weak” economic data in January and February. It also lowered its full-year GDP forecast to 3 per cent growth from an earlier estimate of 5.5 per cent.

3:06 PM

NEWS ALERT | Dow futures erases all gains, slips 1,000 pts from highs

3:05 PM

MARKET CHECK | Nifty slips below 9,000

3:01 PM

MARKET CHECK | Selling intensifies during last hour

2:58 PM

MARKET UPDATE:: Financial shares under pressure

-- Bandhan Bank, Shriram City Union Finance, Sundaram Finance, Manappuram Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services and L&T Finance Holdings hit 52-week lows on the NSE

-- IndusInd Bank tanked 11 per cent, while ICICI Bank and Federal Bank down between 5 per cent and 6 per cent

2:57 PM

MFs investing in fixed-income securities see Rs 28,000 crore outflow in Feb

According to Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), mutual funds that invest in fixed-income securities saw an outflow to the tune of Rs 27,940 crore last month compared with an inflow of Rs 1.09 lakh crore in January. READ MORE

2:54 PM

Heatmap: S&P BSE Sensex

2:47 PM

MARKET CRASH WOES | France's mkt regulator bans short-selling on 92 stocks: Reuters

>> France is banning short-selling on 92 stocks during trading on Tuesday, the financial markets authority said as it tries to calm market turmoil.

 

>> The Autorite des Marches Financiers said in a statement that it was closely monitoring the situation on the markets in relation with other regulators.

 

>> Earlier Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said it was important to keep financial markets open in order for companies to be correctly valued and said that other things such as banning short-selling could be done before closing markets.

2:44 PM

NEWS ALERT | Aeronautical charges for domestic airlines could be relaxed: TV reports

2:36 PM

NEWS ALERT | Dr Reddy's Labs launches Ziprasidone Mesylate (Injection) in the US: BSE filing

>> Co announced the launch of Ziprasidone Mesylate for Injection, 20 mg (base)/ml Single-dose Vials, the therapeutic generic equivalent of Geodon® (ziprasidone mesylate) Injection, 20 mg/ml, approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).

2:34 PM

CORONAVIRUS IMPACT | Japan business mood plunges to decade lows

Japanese business confidence plunged to decade lows in March as the spreading coronavirus outbreak stoked fears of a global recession and sent stock markets tumbling, the Reuters Tankan survey showed on Tuesday.

 

The monthly poll suggested that the Bank of Japan's tankan quarterly survey due April 1 will show a sharp deterioration in business sentiment both at manufacturers and non-manufacturers. READ MORE

2:27 PM

Top losers on BSE at this hour

2:21 PM

Twitter Talk

2:15 PM

Asian Markets check

Asian shares held their ground on Tuesday in a volatile session following one of Wall Street’s biggest one-day routs in history as headlines about the coronavirus outbreak and its global economic impact whiplashed investor sentiment.

Australian shares closed 5.9 per cent higher, to record the biggest daily percentage gain since Oct 2008, following a nearly 10 per cent plunge on Monday. But few investors are feeling confident and uncertainty prevails.

 

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat, as was Japan’s Nikkei stock index which traded either side of even through a bumpy day. South Korea’s KOSPI was down 2.4 per cent.

2:09 PM

CORONAVIRUS WOES | Delta Corp announces closure of its Sikkim-based Casino till April 15

2:06 PM

BSE500 stocks that hit 52-week low today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	52 WK LOW	CHG(%)
ARVIND FASHIONS.	215.00	185.55	-2.03
CARE RATINGS	365.95	340.00	4.44
CENTRUM CAPITAL	11.30	11.30	-9.96
CENTURY PLY.	122.00	111.80	-1.09
CYIENT	327.90	324.05	-6.33

2:05 PM

Goldman sees China GDP contracting by 9% in Q1 rather than growing by 2.5%

Goldman Sachs cut its estimate for China's first quarter gross domestic product to a year-on-year contraction of 9% from a previous forecast of 2.5% growth, citing "strikingly weak" economic data in January and February.

 

China's factory production plunged at the sharpest pace in three decades in the first two months of the year, data on Monday showed, as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the world's second-largest economy. READ MORE

1:55 PM

MARKET CHECK | Top 5 gainers on the BSE at this hour

1:54 PM

ICICI Securities on autos

The present correction has led us to retest our investment thesis and made us more conservative in our forward estimates. We believe the present correction is sort of overdone in most cases. However, in the present turbulent scenario, we will stick to domestic oriented business models possessing healthy capital efficiency/high asset value. Henceforth, in our coverage we recommend BUY on Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Exide, Amara Raja and Goodyear India. For the rest of our coverage universe, we largely recommend HOLD at this juncture.

1:51 PM

ICICI Securities on Wipro

1:49 PM

Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Pidilite gain on lower crude oil prices

Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Asian Paints, and Pidilite Industries rallied up to 8 per cent on the BSE on Tuesday after a significant drop in crude oil prices. Oil prices fell below $30 a barrel on Monday as the worldwide coronavirus outbreak worsened over the weekend, exacerbating fears that government lockdowns to contain the spread of the disease would spark a global recession. READ MORE

1:49 PM

Emkay Global on cement sector

Our interaction with cement stockists and dealers across regions suggests that average cement prices pan India remained flat mom in Mar'20. We believe that average trade prices pan India are set to improve 1.5% qoq in Q4FY20E, due to price hikes of around 1.3-3% qoq across regions barring the Central region, where prices are likely to drop 0.2% qoq. A sequential recovery of sales volumes and lower opex (due to lower pet coke prices - down 26-30% yoy in Q4FY20) should benefit companies in the quarter. We believe that average EBITDA/ton should improve by Rs105/ton qoq, led by price changes and cost reduction of Rs25/ton due to lower pet coke prices.

1:49 PM

Nomura maintains buy rating on RIL

As we noted last week lower oil prices are positive for Reliance Industries (RIL). However, due to COVID-19 situation, despite low oil prices, we expect oil demand contraction this year. Recently, refining/chemical margins have been at 20/10-year lows, and with weak demand, we think refining margins may remain weak.

On our lower SG complex margins assumption of $2.5/4 per barrel (earlier $6/6.5), we cut RIL’s GRM assumption to $8.5/10 per bbl (earlier $11.5/12) for FY21/22F. We also cut our petchem EBIT by 13-14% for FY21/22F. However, we expect petchem EBIT to be resilient (vs FY20F). We marginally adjust our earnings for Jio/Retail and E&P. Our consolidated earnings reduce by 15%/11% for FY21F/22F. Despite the cut, we expect earnings CAGR of 29% over FY20-22F, driven mainly by consumer businesses.

1:48 PM

NEWS ALERT | Sun Pharma approves buyback worth Rs 1,700 cr at Rs 425/sh: BSE filing

1:46 PM

Coronavirus outbreak :: Motilal Oswal Research on earnings impact

While our bottom-up earnings forecast and compilation will be released in Apr’20 with 4QFY20 Strategy Preview, we are assuming a 10% cut in Nifty earnings estimates for FY21 for valuation analysis in this report. This is to factor in both global and local headwinds and disruptions owing to the outbreak of Covid-19.