Sensex, Nifty crack 1%; Sensex slumps 300 points

Banks stocks continued to trade weak along with FMCG major ITC

Selling pressure continue to weigh markets down as investors are jittery over the on-going Budget session amid derivatives expiry for the month of February, which is due tomorrow. The decline is led by metal, healthcare, and FMCG shares.

At 3:10 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 322 points at 23,088 and the Nifty50 was down 90 points at 7,108.

Further, investors would remain cautious ahead of the announcement of Railway Budget, which will be unveiled tomorrow, and the Economic Survey, which will be released on Friday.

The top losers on the Sensex are Sun Pharma, HDFC, NTPC, Tata Motors, and BHEL, down between 2%-4% each.

However, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Axis Bank, SBI, and Maruti Suzuki, have gained between 1%-1.5% each in an otherwise weak market.

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(updated 1:30pm)

Markets extended losses in the late morning trades as selling pressure intensified across the board with financials and Index heavyweights ITC and Tata Motors contributing the most to the losses.

At 1:30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 149 points at 23,261 and the Nifty50 was down 34 points at 7,073.

MAJOR LAGGARDS

Banking shares continue to succumb under pressure as there is no visibility with regards to asset quality and its impact on the fourth quarter results. Among the PSU banks, Punjab National Bank (PNB), Bank of Baroda (BoB), Bank of India and State Bank of India and Syndicate Bank have lost 0.1%-2%. The negative sentiment is spread to the private banking space as well. ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank have shed up to 2%.

Cigarette maker ITC continues to lose sheen for the third day. The stock has cracked nearly 2% on worries over a possible excise duty hike on cigarettes in the forthcoming Budget.

Shares of NTPC are trading lower by 3% to Rs 119.60 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), fallen below its base price of Rs 122 set by the government for stake sale. The stock hit its lowest level since September 14, 2015 on the NSE in intra-day trade.

Energy shares are declining across the bourses with ONGC and Cairn India losing over 2.5% each on further plunge in the crude oil prices after Iran said a proposal by Saudi Arabia and Russia for producers to freeze output was “ridiculous” as the Persian Gulf nation seeks to boost exports after years of sanctions.

Meanwhile, Tata Motors fell 3% after nearly 300 workers at Tata Motors Ltd’s plant in Sanand, Gujarat, have gone on a flash strike over the issue of reinstatement of suspended workers.

Other prominent laggards, BHEL, Sun Pharma, Cipla, Adani Ports have slumped between2%-3%.

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(updated at 10:35 am)

Markets continued to trade lower after the first hour of trade with bank shares leading the decline.

At 10:35am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 157 points at 23,253 and the Nifty50 was down 44 points at 7,066.

Punjab National Bank was down over 1% after the public sector lender declared a list of 904 wilful defaulters that owe close to Rs 11,000 crore to the bank.

In the private banking space, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were down 0.7%-1.9% each.

NTPC was down nearly 3%. The 20% retail portion of the NTPC offer-for-sale by the government will be auctioned today.

Tata Motors was down 1.7% on reports of a flash strike by workers at its Sanand plant.

ITC pared early gains and was down 1.4% on worries over excise duty hike on cigarettes in the forthcoming Union Budget.

Among other shares,  NMDC slipped 12% or by Rs 11.40 to Rs 81.80 on the BSE in early morning trade, after the stock was quoted ex-dividend for Rs 9.50 per share. On the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the stock hit a low of Rs 81.50 so far.

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(Updated at 9:30am)
Markets opened flat with negative bias tracking weakness in their Asian peers and overnight losses on Wall Street. Further, volatility cannot be ruled out ahead of the expiry of February derivative contracts on Thursday.

At 9:30am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 141 points at 23,269 and the Nifty50 was down 43 points at 7,067.    

 

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the equities to the tune of Rs 290 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index was down 0.8% while Smallcap index was down 0.6%. Market breadth was weak with 673 losers and 285 gainers on the BSE.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Metal index was the top loser down 1.8% followed by Bankex and Capital Goods among others. Oil & Gas index was the sole gainer.

Private banks were among the top losers with HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank down 1%-1.8% each contributing the most to the Sensex declines.

Tata Motors was down 1.8% on reports of a flash strike by workers at its Sanand plant.

Oil exploration majors ONGC and Cairn India were down 2%-3% each after global crude oil prices eased while refiners such as RIL and BPCL were up 0.2%-2% each.

State-owned banks continue to witness selling pressure with PNB, Bank of Baroda and SBI down 1.4%-3.6% each.

Other losers include, HDFC, L&T and Lupin among others.

FMCG major ITC witnessed a rebound and was trading with marginal gains after losses in the previous session.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian markets were trading lower tracking a slide in global crude oil prices after Saudi Arabia said that there would be no reduction in production by major oil producers. Nikkei was down 0.7% while Shanghai Composite eased 0.1% and Hang Seng fell 1.1% and Straits Times was down 0.9%.

US stocks ended lower on Tuesday weighed down by energy shares after crude oil prices fell after Saudi Arabia said that there would be no production cuts by major oil producers. The Dow Jones industrial average eased 1.1% at 16,432, S&P 500 dropped 1.3% at 1,921 and the tech-laden Nasdaq closed 1.5% lower at 4,504.