Market extends early losses

Key benchmark indices hit fresh intraday low in morning trade. At 10:19 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 235.08 points or 0.74% at 31,560.38. The Nifty 50 index was down 55.55 points or 0.56% at 9,848.60. Sharp selling in index heavyweight and IT major Infosys put pressure on the key benchmarks.

The Sensex fell 294.62 points, or 0.93% at the day's low of 31,500.84 in morning trade, its lowest level since 16 August 2017. The index fell 65.58 points, or 0.21% at the day's high of 31,729.88 in early trade. The Nifty fell 87.85 points, or 0.89% at the day's low of 9,816.30 in morning trade, its lowest level since 16 August 2017. The index fell 38.20 points, or 0.39% at the day's high of 9,865.95 in early trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.20%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.51%. The decline in both these indices was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every loser on BSE. 1,284 shares fell and 590 shares rose. A total of 79 shares were unchanged.

Most IT shares rose. TCS (up 2.11%), Tech Mahindra (up 1.79%), HCL Technologies (up 0.95%), Persistent Systems (up 0.58%), MphasiS (up 0.38%), Wipro (up 0.29%) and Hexaware Technologies (up 0.05%), edged higher. MindTree (down 0.39%) and Oracle Financial Services Software (down 1.63%), edged lower.

IT major Infosys tumbled 7.12% to Rs 948.40. Vishal Sikka has resigned as managing director and chief executive officer of Infosys. The board has accepted his resignation with immediate effect, the IT major said in a statement issued during trading hours today, 18 August 2017. Infosys said U.B. Pravin Rao, its chief operating officer, has been named as interim managing director and chief executive.

Dr Sikka cited personal attacks as one of the reasons for his surprise resignation in a letter to Infosys board members. In his notice of resignation to the board, Dr Sikka reiterated his belief in the great potential of Infosys, but cited among his reasons for leaving a continuous stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters, increasingly personal and negative as of late, as preventing management's ability to accelerate the company's transformation, Infosys said in a statement.

The board understands and acknowledges Dr Sikka's reasons for resignation, and regrets his decision. In particular, the board is profoundly distressed by the unfounded personal attacks on the members of our management team that were made in the anonymous letters and have surfaced in recent months, Infosys added.

Metal shares declined. Jindal Steel & Power (down 2.36%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.63%), Vedanta (down 1.58%), NMDC (down 1.5%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.41%), Bhushan Steel (down 0.99%), Hindustan Zinc (down 0.9%), Steel Authority of India (down 0.76%), Hindustan Copper (down 0.72%), Tata Steel (down 0.66%) and JSW Steel (down 0.55%), edged lower.

Meanwhile, copper price edged lower in the global commodities markets. High Grade Copper for September 2017 delivery was currently down 0.31% at $2.929 per pound on the COMEX.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged lower on growing doubts about US President Donald Trump's ability to fulfil his economic agenda.

Confidence was shaken further after a van mowed through crowds of tourists in Barcelona on Thursday, 17 August 2017, killing at least 13 people and injuring more than 100 in an attack authorities were treating as terrorism. Spanish police said they had killed four attackers in a shootout south of the city overnight.

US stocks tumbled overnight as the broader market appeared to be fretting about a number of bearish factors, including a record-setting market that has been viewed as too rich and due for a pullback, concerns about the health of the economy and the Federal Reserve's comfort in normalizing interest rates amid levels of inflation that have run below their 2% target, considered indicative of a normally functioning economy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 274 points, or 1.2%, lower at 21,750, as the broader stock market faced its biggest selloff since last week's North Korea-fueled jitters. The S&P 500 index meanwhile, ended down 1.5% at 2,430 and the Nasdaq Composite Index shed 1.9% at 6,221.

Concerns have grown over Trump's ability to push through his economic goals such as tax cuts and infrastructure spending following the exodus of executives from two prominent business councils in reaction to his response to clashes last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Trump on Thursday, 17 August 2017, again decried the removal of pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy monuments, which have fuelled US racial tensions, stoking worries that some of his key policy staffers and aides may quit.

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