Sensex tanks 300 points, Midcaps plunge; ONGC, SBI dip

Investors have turned cautious ahead of the outcome of FOMC's two-day meet on monetary policy today

Benchmark indices continue to trade lower by almost 1% tracking Asian cues as a new poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump leading the US presidential race spooked investors.

Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s two-day meet on monetary policy will conclude today. The US Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but set the stage for a hike in December amid signs the economy is picking up steam.

By 11:00 am, the benchmark S&P Sensex was at 27,577 down 299 points and the Nifty50 index was trading at 8,525 down 101 points. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down over 1% each.

Top losers from the Sensex pack are ONGC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Coal India and Sun Pharma, all down between 2%-3%. Amongst gainers, NTPC, HUL and M&M are up 1%-2%.

Moil has rallied to its fresh 52-week high of Rs 384, up 6% on BSE in an otherwise weak market, after the company hiked prices of various grades of manganese ore with effect from November 1, 2016.

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Updated at 9:36 am

Markets started the session on a lower note as investors have turned cautious ahead of the outcome of Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s two-day meet on monetary policy which will conclude today.

By 9:36 am, the benchmark S&P Sensex was at 27,594 down 283 points and the Nifty50 index was trading at 8,535 down 92 points. Among broader markets, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices are down over 1% each.

On Tuesday, markets closed lower amid volatile trading session weighed down by defensive sectors like IT, FMCG and pharma. However, the downside was limited due to buying among metal shares and favourable core sector growth in October.

"Nifty made a bearish red candle in final session after trading in a very consolidated range. A channel line can be seen which has its strong resistance around 8,750 which the Nifty has successfully tested and again taken a reverse from the levels heading towards a very strong lower trend line support of 8,450, Nifty in today's session has given a confirmation for bearish trend from here by closing below the lower trendline support. 8,450 can be considered as a Strong support for Nifty from here. Overall short selling is suggested if go technically on Nifty's daily chart", said Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research.

Besides, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 123.96 crore yesterday as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.

GLOBAL MARKET

Global equity prices and the dollar fell sharply on Tuesday as investors sought safe havens amid mounting uncertainty about next week's US presidential election.

US Treasury prices ended higher, erasing earlier weakness, as falling stocks increased demand for bonds, while oil prices fell to one-month lows.

MSCI's 47-country "All World" index was down 0.4 per cent, dragged down by weakness on Wall Street.

The S&P 500 dipped to near a four-month low before closing off session lows, as investors appeared to fret about the outcome of the US presidential election.

STOCK TRENDS & COMPANY NEWS

Top losers from the Sensex pack are Tata Steel, Adani Ports, ONGC, SBI and ICICI Bank, all slumping by around 2% each.

The Kolkata-based Emami group, which has business interest in fast-moving consumer goods, retail and pharmacy, is now looking at the start-up space to make investments.

The five associate banks of State Bank of India (SBI) have booked heavy combined loss of Rs 3,096 crore in the financial year’s second quarter ended September, on a sharp rise in provisions for stressed loans.

Two public lenders — Dena Bank and State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur (SBBJ) — on Tuesday cut benchmark lending rates by up to 0.1%.

Lupin announced that it has received final approval for Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets USP, 0.25 mg/0.035 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market a generic version of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Ortho-Cyclen 28 Tablets (Norgestimate/Ethinyl Estradiol).

NTPC announced that in continuation with company's earlier disclosures in respect of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayn (HURL), a joint venture company formed between NTPC and Coal India (CIL), a supplemental joint venture agreement has been signed on 31 October 2016 amongst NTPC, CIL, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Fertilizer Corporation of India (FCIL) and Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation (HFCL) in order to induct IOC, FCIL and HFCL, as joint venture partners and shareholders in HURL.

With Reuters inputs