Markets tumble on Fed comments; Bihar exit polls eyed

Markets finished the session on a dismal note with Nifty settling below the crucial support of 7,950 after Federal Reserve chief Janet Yellen kindled the prospects of benchmark interest rate hike in the month of December citing growth in the US economy.

Meanwhile as Bihar slips into the fifth and final phase of polling, investors became edgy ahead of the outcome of exit poll results of Bihar election.

The Sensex dropped 249 points to end at 26,304 and the Nifty slipped 85 points to end at 7,955.

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(updated at 3:30 PM)

Benchmark indices continue their journey southward in the late noon trades as caution prevailed across the bourses ahead of the outcome of exit poll results of Bihar election.  Banking and healthcare shares are exerting pressure thus leading the decline.

Further, the US Federal Reserve has revived the possibility of a December rate hike citing favorable growth in the US economy that has also dampened the sentiments of the market players.

At 2:30pm, the 30-share Sensex was down 141 points at 26,413 and the 50-share Nifty was down 50 points at 7,990.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were down 0.8-1% each. Market breadth was weak with 1,651 losers and 901 gainers on the BSE.

RUPEE

The Indian rupee was trading lower against the US dollar at Rs 65.68 on the back of demand from importers for the US currency. Besides, a weak opening in the domestic equity market put pressure on the rupee, dealers said.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Bankex and Healthcare indices are down by 1.2% each, thus pulling the markets down however, there are marginal gains in BSE FMCG index. Bank Nifty is down 195 points or 1.1%

Metal stocks have lost sheen as the Fed rate hike prospect has surfaced back. Vedanta, NMDC, Jindal Steel, Hindalco are all down between 1-4.3% each.

Tata Steel is expected to announce its quarterly results later today. The stock has lost nearly 3%

Banking and financial shares are bleeding on a possible Fed rate hike announcement. HDFC bank, SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank are all down between 0.4-2% each.

Auto shares were up on hopes of higher sales during the ongoing festive season following the new model launches. M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp were up 0.6-0.7% each. Tata Motors extended gains after encouraging JLR sales in the US.

Stocks such as Maruti Suzuki, Bank of Baroda, Ashok Leyland, Yes Bank, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) are likely to make an entry into in the MSCI India index as per Emkay, a research analyst firm.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today launched three ambitious schemes to reduce the physical demand for gold and fish out 20,000 tonnes of the precious metal worth $800 billion lying idle with households. PC Jewellers, Tribhuvandas Bhimji Zaveri , Rajesh Exports are all down between 0.2-2% .

Pharma company Novartis India today reported a multi-fold jump in its stand-alone net profit at Rs 103.82 crore for the September quarter on back of slump sale of its OTC division to GlaxoSmithKline Plc. The stock is up 1.5%