Markets dive for second straight day; Sensex falls 115 points, Midcaps drop 0.6%

Broader markets broke the winning streak and ended lower, underperforming the benchmark indices

Benchmark indices extended losses for second straight day weighed down by weakness among select defensive and rate-sensitive sectors.

However, the downside was limited due to buying among oil & gas segment. Investors are eagerly waiting for teh ECB minutes later today.

The benchmark S&P Sensex closed at 28,106 levels, down 115 points or 0.4%. Nifty50 index fell 34 points, or 0.4%, to close at 8,710 levels. The broader markets broke the winning streak and finally ended lower, underperforming the benchmark indices. The S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap slipped 0.56% and 0.48%, respectively.

Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research adds, "Nifty ended down for second consecutive day making a 'Long Black Candlestick' after a bearish belt hold confirming the intermediate trend to be in grip of bears. The importance of the current bearish moves is upper resistance trendline drawn from recent peaks of 8,968 coupled with third top confirmed after formation of bearish belt hold. Pattern wise we are forming a h&s and current downmove may validate to be right shoulder on breach of 8,590."

Globally, European and Asian stocks rose as a healthy US economic report and rising oil prices overnight bolstered investor optimism. Markets in mainland China were closed for a weeklong holiday.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.4% while Japan's Nikkei gained 0.5%. CAC, DAX and FTSE were trading mixed.

Oil futures dipped on Thursday after Saudi Arabia trimmed the price of its flagship physical crude to Asia, but were still near more than three-month highs following a drop in US crude inventories.

Back home, IT, FMCG, pharma, banks, realty and auto sectors were the main draggers in trades today. However, oil & gas sector outperformed with BSE Oil & Gas index rising by over 2%.

Top losers from the Sensex pack were M&M, NTPC, ITC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Dr Reddy’s Labs, all falling down between 1%-2%. On the gaining side, GAIL, RIL, HUL, ONGC and Maruti Suzuki rose between 1%-4%.

In view of weak power demand, the dispatch of coal by Coal India (CIL) to power sector declined by 12.7 per cent to 26.4 million tonnes (MT) in August this year. Coal India slipped by 1%.

Automobile manufacturer Tata Motors has struck a deal with a major South African car hire company to supply Tata Bolt 1.2 Turbo hatchbacks for its national rental fleet. The stock slipped over 1%.

Automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) on Thursday launched the country's first zero emission electric cargo and passenger vans, eSupro, at a price of Rs 8.45-8.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). M&M was teh top Sensex loser, down over 2%.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday gave its nod to the acquisition of 11 per cent stake in Russia’s Vankor oil fields by ONGC Videsh (OVL) from Rosneft Oil Company for $930 million, which will take its overall stake in the project to 26%. Shares of ONGC gained almost 1%.

Jindal Steel and Power said on Wednesday it had not made interest payments due on some of its non-convertible debentures, underscoring the size of the debt-laden company's woes. The stock slumped by 6%.

SMART MOVERS

Goa Carbon rallied 16% after touching its 52-week high on the BSE. The company reported a net profit of Rs 4.62 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (Q2FY17).

Grasim Industries was up over 2% on the BSE after the stock turned ex-stock split in the ratio of 5:1 on Thursday.

Transformers and Rectifiers (India) Ltd (TRIL) surged over 8.5% after the company said it has entered into a joint venture (JV) agreement with Chinese firm Jiangsu Jingke Smart Electric Company Limited (Jingke).

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) rose over 5%, after hitting all time high of Rs 659. The state-owned oil marketing company has fixed October 19, 2016 as the record date for 1:1 bonus issue.

Goodyear India surged around 13%, hitting new high of Rs 921 on the BSE in intra-day trade, after Goldman Sachs bought stake in tyre maker through open market.