MARKET WRAP: Sensex slips 214 pts, Nifty ends at 11,251; pharma, IT advance

All that happened in markets today

4:00 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

Fresh virus cases reported in India overshadowed monetary easing by Fed. Despite mixed global cues, the domestic market took a hit fuelled by weakness in metals, banks and auto stocks. Short term tremors due to virus could be felt across the globe including Indian indices but for the long term, the impact looks limited. 

3:47 PM

SECTOR WATCH | Bank, media and metal stocks witness sharp selling

3:43 PM

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

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 214 points or 0.55 per cent lower at 38,409 while NSE's Nifty50 ended at 11,251, down 52 points or 0.46 per cent. 

3:27 PM

Cabinet Meet Outcome | Amendments to Companies Act approved

3:20 PM

NEWS ALERT | Prime Minister monitoring Coronavirus situation: Prakash Javadekar

3:14 PM

Cabinet Meet Outcome | Non-resident Indians will be allowed to fully own Air India: CNBC-TV18

3:10 PM

PSU Bank index hits over 10-yr low; Canara Bank tanks 38% thus far in 2020

Thus far in the calendar year, 2020 the Nifty PSU Bank index has tanked 27 per cent, as compared to an 8 per cent fall in the benchmark index. A total of eight banks including Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Union Bank of India, Jammu & Kashmir Bank and Allahabad Bank plunged between 30 per cent and 40 per cent during the period. READ MORE

2:58 PM

Buzzing | ITC hits 4-year low

2:56 PM

Coronavirus impact | Scarcity of items imported from South Korea worrisome: Govt official to ET Now

>> See larger problem with scarcity of auto parts specific to some brands

>> Complexity of mobile phones, auto parts make it difficult to replicate. 

2:50 PM

Bank of Japan offers bleak view on economy, warns of big hit from virus: Reuters

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda on Wednesday said the coronavirus outbreak could inflict big damage on the economy, stressing the central bank’s readiness to take “appropriate action” to underpin a fragile recovery, the report said. 

Haruhiko Kuroda

2:44 PM

Index Contributors at this hour

2:41 PM

BSE500 stocks that hit 52-week low today

COMPANY	PRICE(rs)	52 WK LOW	CHG(%)
ADITYA BIRLA CAP	74.55	74.25	-4.18
BALMER LAWRIE	100.40	99.50	-1.03
BANK OF INDIA	48.25	47.75	-2.13
BHARAT ELECTRON	72.55	70.60	-2.88
C P C L	96.55	96.20	-5.57

2:33 PM

Nifty sectoral indices at this hour

2:31 PM

Market check | Indices off lows

2:30 PM

CARE Ratings' view RBI rate cut possibility

The RBI has already put out an assurance that it would be willing to support the economy in case of the spread of the effects of coronavirus, which is being monitored closely. It is understood that Indian enterprise will be impacted by the virus even if the spread is not within the country. Therefore there is reason to believe that the RBI may pitch in for a rate cut of up to 50 bps. The interesting thing is whether this will happen before the policy or on the policy date which is April. We believe that the rate cut can come sooner and will be before the formal policy is announced in April.

2:24 PM

Govt to allow telecom firms to defer payments of future spectrum auctions

“Considering the stress in the sector, the government has given an option to the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to defer payment of the spectrum auction instalments dues for 2020-21 and 2021-22, either for one or both years,” Minister of State for Communications Sanjay Dhotre informed the Lok Sabha today. READ MORE

2:20 PM

NEWS ALERT | Lok Sabha passes Direct tax Vivad Se Vishwas Bill 2020

2:15 PM

Asian Markets check

Asian shares were poised to drop on Wednesday and bonds soared, after an emergency rate cut from the US Federal Reserve was unable to quell investor fears over the coronavirus’s widening fallout.

More than 3,000 people have been killed by the coronavirus, about 3.4 per cent of those infected - far above seasonal flu’s fatality rate of under 1 per cent. It continues to spread quickly beyond the outbreak’s epicenter in China, with Italy overnight reporting a jump in deaths to a total of 79.

In Asia, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index fell 1.4 per cent in early trade. Nikkei futures NKc1 traded in negative territory and e-mini futures for the S&P 500 ESc1 fell 0.4 per cent. Trade in Treasury futures implied a yield of 0.86 per cent on US 10-year paper.

Oil prices slipped, with Brent crude falling 30 cents to $51.90 per barrel.

(Reuters) 

2:13 PM

Venky's cracks 9% as poultry sales decline over Coronavirus fears

Shares of Venky's, the poultry processing company, declined over 9 per cent on Wednesday amid sharp decline in poultry sales in the wake of fast spreading deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19).

 

At 01:49 pm, the stock was trading around 7 per cent lower at Rs 1,133 apiece on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 635 points or 1.64 per cent lower at 37,989 levels. READ MORE

2:11 PM

Rate cut losing its potency as an instrument to stimulate growth: Analysts

In a bid to battle the economic fallout emanating from deadly Coronavirus (Covid-19), the US Federal Reserve (US Fed) cut its benchmark policy rates by 50 basis points (bps) in the range of 1 to 1.25 per cent on Tuesday. However, the emergency rate cut failed to cheer investors as US stocks tumbled. Market participants worried whether pumping more money into financial markets would address the central problem – a cut in business activity as workers and consumers stay home. READ MORE HERE

2:10 PM

NEWS ALERT | Have to deal Covid-19 at an emergency level: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal

2:09 PM

MARKET COMMENT :: IIFL

It is now reasonable to assume a demand hit in India, regardless of how widely Covid-19 spreads here. Factors contributing to this will include global supply-chain disruptions and demand weakness. Consensus’ Nifty EPS growth expectations are very optimistic and will witness significant downgrades. Between Auto, Discretionary, Pharma and SBI, 30% of Nifty EPS is at risk.

Also, financials (ex-SBI) make up 32% of Nifty EPS and should witness a negative impact from further slowdown. The balance 38% is relatively safe and would include IT, FMCG, Utilities and RIL (where retail and telecom upgrades may compensate for core business earnings weakness). Stretched government fisc will limit stimulus

2:08 PM

COMMENT :: Market outlook by ICICI Securities

COVID-19 episode is an unknown variable for global growth, and investors have acknowledged it by driving stock prices lower by ~11% from recent highs. Meanwhile, counter-measures by policy makers are underway and are being weighed by markets. Valuations have improved on NIFTY50 forward P/E (16.65x), India market cap to GDP (74%) and 10-year government bond – NIFTY50 forward earnings yield spread (30 bps) due to the correction

2:07 PM

Barclays on RBI rate cut possibility

With the inflation target breach likely to be temporary, we think the RBI is done with cutting rates – although there may be some space for a resumption in H2 20, if inflation falls below the mid-point of the target range, as we predict

2:06 PM

Coronavirus outbreak :: BofA Securities on economic growth, rate cut

We monitor the effect of the slowdown in China, due to the COVID-19 outbreak, on India's growth. We do not see much impact if China's 1Q20 GDP growth slows to our economists' 4.2% forecast. However, if the situation were to worsen, we estimate India's 1H20 growth could drop about 50bp cumulatively on disruptions in China-India trade, including pharma/electronics input imports, as well as in global markets. Tuesday's Fed cut supports our call of 50bp RBI rate cut in 2020.

2:04 PM

Coronavirus outbreak :: ICRA negative on cotton spinning sector

With no meaningful recovery in sight and continued uncertainty on the extent and duration of the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, ICRA maintains a ‘Negative’ outlook on the cotton spinning sector assigned in August 2019. There has been a visible weakening in credit profile of domestic cotton spinners in the current fiscal, corroborated by a credit ratio (upgrade to downgrade) of ~0.6 times in YTD FY2020

2:03 PM

Coronavirus Update

2:01 PM

NEWS ALERT | China's February retail passenger car sales see a fall of 80% YoY: Prelim data

(Reports CNBC TV18 quoting Agencies)

2:00 PM

IRCTC hits 10% lower circuit