Barometers continue trading with modest losses

Key equity benchmarks continued trading with modest losses in the afternoon trade. At 13:35 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 193.72 points or 0.52% at 36,866.65. The Nifty 50 index also declined 61.15 points or 0.56% at 10,857.55.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, shares 522 rose and 1,720 shares fell. A total of 98 shares were unchanged. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.59%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.44%.

Britannia Industries (up 3.39%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (up 1.90%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.40%), GAIL (India) (up 1.39%) and Hindustan Unilever (up 1.30%) advanced.

Indiabulls Housing Finance (down 5.94%), Coal India (down 4.10%), UPL (down 3.73%), Vedanta (down 3.32%) and BPCL (down 3.20%) declined.

Infosys shed 0.36%. Infosys announced that it has expanded its partnership with Google Cloud to become a Google Cloud Managed Service Provider (MSP). This will include consulting, assessment, migration, optimization and support services for enterprises looking to optimize their workloads on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 August 2019.

NMDC declined 4.58%. NMDC said that the prices of iron ore with effect from 20 August 2019 has been fixed as Lump Ore (65.5%, 6-40 mm) at Rs 2,900 per tonne and Fines (64%, 10 mm) at Rs 2660 per tonne. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 August 2019.

Dilip Buildcon plunged 7.87%. The construction company said that its board will meet on 26 August 2019 to consider the proposal for divestment of wholly owned subsidiaries (WOS) to one or more potential investors in a structured manner over a period of time in different tranches. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 21 August 2019.

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) lost 1.28%. The firm said that the consortium of L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) and EMAS AMC, a Subsea7 company, has been awarded a large project by Saudi Aramco. This project consists of twenty eight offshore jackets in Zuluf, Marjan, Safaniya & Ribyan offshore fields of Saudi Arabia.

DLF slumped 10.90%. As per reports, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the company based on a petition that highlighted how DLF had suppressed key information regarding judicial proceedings against its largest chunk of land-bank in Haryana. The reports added that a notice has also been issued to SEBI, which too is party to the case. The petition seeks an investigation by Sebi on the suppression of material information, as the regime under Sebi Act is strictly disclosure based, with the sole intent of protecting the interest of the investors in the securities market.

Bhel rose 0.21%. Bhel informed that India Ratings & Research had affirmed the company's long-term issuer rating at 'IND AA+'. However, the outlook has been revised from 'Stable' to 'Negative'. The rating agency cited higher than expected decline in the revenues, leading to EBITDA losses in Q1 June 2019 as the primary reason for the rating action.

LIC Housing Finance fell 7.56% after multiple block deals were stuck in the counter today. Earlier some media reports indicated that some marque investors are likely to sell about 6.7% shares of LIC Housing Finance on Thursday. The transaction was likely in the price range of Rs 425.15 to 449.50 per share. As on 30 June 2019, Fidelity Investment Trust held 3.41% stake in LIC Housing Finance. Bank Muscat India Fund held 2.278% stake and Government Pension Fund Global held 1.831% stake in the company.

Coffee Day Enterprises hit 5% upper circuit at Rs 76.40. The company clarified with respect to an article titled 'ITC considering to pick stake in Coffee Day' that the reports is factually incorrect and the firm in unaware of the news. Meanwhile, clarifying the same, ITC said that the company on an ongoing basis receives enquiries from market participants which are suitably evaluated. One such enquiry was also received from an intermediary on Cafe Coffee Day. However, no progress has been made on the matter. Shares of the cigarette major rose 0.54%.

Lupin rose 1.38%. The drug maker said that it has entered into a definitive agreement through its Japanese subsidiary Kyowa (Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry) for the sale of its Japanese injectables business and related assets in Japan to neo ALA Co., a wholly owned subsidiary of Neopharma group, the UAE's largest pharmaceutical manufacturer headquartered in Abu Dhabi. The plant and associated facilities are based out of Atsugi, Japan and has been engaged in sales and contract manufacturing of injectable products to meet various medical needs.

Yes Bank slumped 7.19% to Rs 60.70, extending fall for third straight day triggered by a disclosure regarding irregularities and unauthorised transactions at CG Power and Industrial Solution. As on 30 June 2019, Yes Bank held 12.79% stake in CG Power. The scrip hit its 52-week low at Rs 60.10 today. Shares of Yes bank have fallen 20.86% in three trading sessions from its close of Rs 76.70 on Monday, 19 August 2019.

TCS was up by 1.79%. The IT major has been recognized as a Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant for Global Retail core Banking.

Syndicate Bank was down by 1.16%. The bank has fixed 16 September 2019 as the record date for the payment of annual interest of 8.58% on its Basel III, Tier II bonds whose principal is worth Rs 1,000 crore which falls due for payment on 30 September 2019.

Overseas, European stocks were trading lower. DAX (down 0.03%), CAC 40 (down 0.22%) and FTSE 100 (down 0.36%). Minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee's last meeting, released on Wednesday, 21 August 2019, showed that the central bankers generally favored an approach "that avoided any appearance of following a preset course." Traders will now look forward to the key Jackson Hole conference and the speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday, 23 August 2019 for interest-rate direction from the world's largest economy.

Most Asian indices declined with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index flashing a long-term bear market signal. Japanese manufacturing activity shrank for a fourth straight month in August, a preliminary business survey showed on Thursday. The Jibun Bank Flash Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 49.5 from a final 49.4 in the previous month, but stayed below the 50 threshold that separates contraction from expansion for a fourth month.

Wall Street's main indexes rose on Wednesday as upbeat earnings from retailers pointed to strength in US consumer demand, and held gains after minutes from last month's Federal Reserve meeting showed policymakers had debated a more aggressive interest rate cut.

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