Sensex down over 250 points; Nifty slips below 7,350

The S&P BSE Sensex is down 156 points at 24,286 and the Nifty50 is down 51 points to quote at 7,387

Markets extended losses in late trades to hit fresh 52-week lows with index heavyweight RIL leading the decline.

At 3:10pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 284 points at 24,171 and the Nifty50 was down 93 points at 7,344.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was down over 5% along HDFC , HDFC Bank and Infosys.

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(updated at 2:30pm)

Benchmark indices are still reeling under pressure weighed down by profit taking in index heavyweight Reliance Industries.

However, growing concerns about the health of the world economy coupled with a steep decline in the oil prices while the fall in country’s exports for the 13th consecutive month has dented the sentiments across the board.

At 2:30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 156 points at 24,286 and the Nifty50 is down 51 points to quote at 7,387.

India’s exports contracted for the 13th month in a row in December due to tepid global demand but trade deficit widened due to a jump in import of gold and electronic items.

Brent crude prices fell on Monday to as low to $27.67 a barrel early on Monday, its lowest since 2003 after international sanctions against Iran were lifted over the weekend, thus allowing Tehran to enter the oil market.

The top five losers on the Sensex are ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, NTPC, and Bajaj Auto, down between 1-4% each.

The top five gainers on the Sensex are BHEL, Tata Steel, AdaniPorts, GAIL (INDIA), and HUL, up between 1-6% each.

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(updated 12:30 pm)

Markets continue to remain under pressure with Nifty hovering near the crucial 7,400 mark as weakness in the global peers and a further plunge in the oil prices dented the sentiments.

Meanwhile, stock specific action is seen with some of the prominent companies posting their quarterly numbers. A fall in the exports for the thirteenth straight month has further aggravated the sell-off of Indian equities.

At 12:30  pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 105 points at 24,350 and the Nifty50 is down 31 points to quote at 7,407. The broader markets are underperforming the benchmarks with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down between 1.5%-3%.

India’s exports contracted for the 13th month in a row in December due to tepid global demand but trade deficit widened due to a jump in import of gold and electronic items.

Data released by the commerce ministry showed that during the month exports contracted 14.75% to $22.3 billion, while imports shrank 3.9% to $33.9 billion, amounting to a trade deficit of $11.7 billion.

Top five gainers on the Sensex pack include BHEL, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, GAIL and Adani Ports up between 1%-4%. However, Bajaj Auto, ONGC, Dr Reddys’ lab, Bharti Airtel and Cipla have lost between 1.5%-3.5%.

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(updated at 12:30 pm)

Markets are witnessing a choppy Monday morning with the midcaps and smallcaps getting battered and underperforming the largecaps. Stock specific action is seen on the bourses as the earning season continues.

At 10:40  am, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 81 points at 24,374 and the Nifty50 is down 27 points to quote at 7,411. The broader markets are underperforming the benchmarks with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down between 2%-3.5%.

Shares of midcap and smallcap companies were under pressure for the second consecutive day falling by over 15% on the BSE.

Sharon Bio-Medicine, Morepen Laboratories, Marksans Pharma, Jenburkt Pharmaceuticals, Wockhardt, Vimta Labs, Alembic Pharmaceuticals, Aarti Drugs, Capiln Point Laboratories, Jubilant Life Sciences and Hester Biosciences from the pharmaceuticals were down 5%-12% on the BSE.

Indian Hotels, Alstom T&D, Torrent Power, Adani Power, IDBI Bank, Zee Entertainment, Reliance Capital, Astra Microwave Products and Om Metals the non-pharma stocks from mid and smallcap index down more than 10% each.

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(updated at 10:05 am)

After opening flat, markets lost gorund mirroring weakness in the global peers as weak US economic data and further decline in the crude oil prices dented sentiments.

At 10:05  am, the S&P BSE Sensex is down 164 points at 24,291 and the Nifty50 is down 51 points to quote at 7,386. The broader markets are underperforming the benchmarks with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices down between 2.5%-3.5%.

Oil prices touched their lowest since 2003 today, as the market braced for a jump in Iranian exports after the lifting of sanctions against the country during the weekend.

Some of the notable companies including Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, UltraTech Cement, Idea Cellular, ITC, Wipro and Cairn India among others will announce their third quarter earnings this week.

GLOBAL MARKETS

US stocks witnessed a sharp sell-off on Friday after crude oil prices tumbled below $30 per barrel and economic growth concerns in China. The technology and energy sectors were the top losers. The energy sector eased tracking weakness in crude oil prices while sluggish quarterly results from Intel dampened sentiment for the technology sector. The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 2.4% to end below 16,000 at 15,988, the broader S&P 500 dropped 2.2% to 1,880 and the tech-laden Nasdaq Composite ended down 2.7% at 4,488.

Asian stocks slumped on Monday tracking a sell-off on Wall Street over the weekend as discouraging US with decline in US retail sales and drop in industrial output in December. Meanwhile, China's Shanghai Composite rebounded after dropping nearly 2% in early trades. The benchmark index was down 0.7% while Hang Seng and Straits Times eased 1.7%. Japan's Nikkei was down 2% after slumping nearly 3% in early trades.

STOCKS 

Wipro slipped 2% after the Q3 IT services revenues came below the street estimates. Dollar revenues witnessed a flat sequential growth at $1,838 million. On the other hand, its peers TCS and Infosys are trading higher by 0.5% each.

Meanwhile, country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki on Saturday raised prices of its vehicles across models by up to Rs 12,000, in line with Honda, Toyota Kirloskar, Tata Motors and Skoda in taking such a step from this month. The stock has cracked over 2%.

A decline in the steel prices has pushed Tata Steel to cut 1,050 jobs in Britian. The stock has lost nearly 2%.

Amid a subdued trading session, Coal India has gained nearly 1% on increased output which resulted in savings of about Rs 17,000 crore.

RESULT CAPSULE

LIC Housing Finance has gained nearly 1% after profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 was up 20% year-on-year.

Indian Hotels Company has dropped over 6% on posting 84% decline in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended December 31. The Mumbai-based company clocked net profit of Rs 10.05 crore for the reporting quarter as against Rs 61.84 crore reported in the same quarter last year.

Oberoi Realty surged 2% after consolidated profit after tax for the quarter ended December 31, 2015 surged to Rs 209 crore compared with Rs 79 crore for the same quarter last fiscal.

Pipavav Defence cracked nearly 7% after the net loss in the quarter ended on December 31 widened to Rs 293.60 crore due to sharp decline in the income from operations.