Sensex, Nifty slide 1% on Dec F&O expiry

Markets ended lower for the second straight session weighed down by Oil & Gas shares on continued fall in crude oil prices over recent months. Weakness in the China markets dampened the sentiments of the investors.

Today was the expiry of December derivative contracts.

Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex dropped 298 points to end at 27,209 and the 50-share Nifty has lost 80 points to end at 8,186.

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(updated at 3.04 PM)
Markets extend losses in the last trading hour of trading ahead of the expiry of December derivative contracts. Selling in Index heavyweights along with weakness in the China markets dampened the sentiments of the investors.

At 3.04 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 274 points at 27,232 and the 50-share Nifty has lost 83 points to trade at 8,184.

HDFC, BHEL, NTPC, Coal India and Dr Reddy's Lab are the top 5 losers on the BSE and are down between 2-5%.

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(updated at 2.30 PM)
Markets continue to trade lower ahead of the expiry of December derivative contracts. Selling in Index heavyweights along with weakness in the China markets dampened the sentiments of the investors. 

Meanwhile, the cabinet has approved an executive order today to implement coal and insurance reforms.

At 2.30 PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 88 points at 27,418 and the 50-share Nifty has lost 24 points to trade at 8,243.

The selling by foreign institutional investors continued unabated and they were net sellers in Indian equities worth Rs 444.93 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Rupee:

The rupee is trading lower at 63.44 versus Tuesday's close of 63.28. The dollar index is trading above the key 90 level for the first time since March 2006 after strong US and UK economic data. Month-end dollar demand from oil companies is also hurting the Indian unit.

Key Stocks:

On the sectoral front, BSE IT and Oil & Gas indices are down over 0.7% each followed by BSE FMCG, Healthcare indices dipping 0.5% each. However, BSE Realty index is the top gainer and is up nearly 2%.

Coal India is down 0.3%. On Tuesday, the company received in-principle approval from its board to form two joint ventures to revive FCIL’s Talcher urea plant in Odisha. The cabinet approved an executive order on Wednesday to implement coal reforms. The bill will set the ball rolling for re-allocation of 204 cancelled coal blocks through a transparent e-auction process. Hindalco is down over 1%.

With an above-global average output growth, India has retained its position as the world's fourth-largest steel producer this year but faces tough times ahead in 2015 amid growing imports and other concerns. Tata Steel and Sesa Sterlite gained 1% and 1.3% each.

Pharma shares are under pressure with Dr Reddys Labs down1.6%. In a report issued on Tuesday, Health Canada said that the importers have decided to stop the importation and distribution of products manufactured by Dr Reddy's Labs and IPCA Labs at Srikakulam and Pithampur facilities respectively. However, the regulator has not asked Indian companies to recall drugs from the market. Sun Pharma and Cipla shed around 0.4% each.

IT shares are witnessing pressure. Infosys, Wipro and TCS are down between 0.2-0.5%.

NTPC has lost over 2% . NTPC, the state-owned thermal power generation giant, might lose the chance to build its first ultra mega power project (UMPPs), as the government is likely to scrap the bidding process for the Cheyyur UMPP in Tamil Nadu. 

Oil and gas shares are subdued. ONGC has declined over 1%. RIL is marginally weak on the back of declining crude oil prices.

Among other shares, real estate developer Sobha has rallied 5% after a foreign investor Platinum Investment Management Limited acquired over 300,000 shares of the company through open market. Among other stocks, Oberoi realty, Unitech, HDIL and India Bulls real estate are up between 2-7%.

Shares of companies engaged in insurance business have moved higher by up to 4% after the Union Cabinet clears the Insurance Laws Amendment Bill.

Max India (up 4.4% at Rs 397), Reliance Capital (3.5% at Rs 496), Exide Industries (3% at Rs 174), Aditya Birla Nuvo (1.4% at Rs 1,675) and Bajaj Finserv (1% at Rs 1,324) are up 1-4% on BSE.

Shares of UltraTech Cement were trading higher by 3% at Rs 2,616 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) after the company said its board has approved a proposal for the acquisition of cement units of Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL) located in Madhya Pradesh.

Global Markets:

Asian stocks gained and the dollar stood tall on Wednesday thanks to surprisingly robust U.S. economic growth, helping investors head into the Christmas holidays in a more relaxed mood after the global market turbulence of the past two weeks. Japan’s Nikkei gained over 1% while Hang Seng is trading flat with a positive bias.

China's Shanghai Composite Index lost 2.5%, to 2,957.43, dropping below 3,000 - a key support level - for the first time since Dec. 17, and raising concerns of further falls.

In the broader market, BSE midcap and Smallcap indices have outperformed the large counterparts with a gain of around 0.4% each.

Market breadth is almost neutral on the BSE with 1,350 shares declining and 1,348 shares advancing.