Market tumbles on dismal global cues

Key benchmark indices tumbled in early trade, tracking weak global cues amid concerns that trade war could hit global growth. At 9:17 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 374.53 points or 1.13% at 32,631.74. The Nifty 50 index was down 110.90 points or 1.10% at 10,003.85. The Sensex was trading below the psychological 33,000 mark.

Among secondary barometers,the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.56%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.80%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was quite weak. On BSE, 1,266 shares fell and 95 shares rose. A total of 61 shares were unchanged.

Overseas, Asian markets slumped on Friday, tracking sharp falls in US stocks, which took a hit on fears of a potential trade war. In China, Shanghai Composite was down 3.27%. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 was down 3.77%.

US stocks fell sharply on Thursday, with major indices suffering their worst day in weeks as the threat of a trade war with China sparked a widespread selloff.

US President Donald Trump signed an executive memorandum on Thursday that would impose retaliatory tariffs on at least $50 billion in Chinese imports. The new measures are designed to penalise China for trade practices that the Trump administration says involve stealing American companies' intellectual property. They will primarily target certain products in the technology sector where China holds an advantage over the US. Investors are concerned that protectionist trade policies could be met with retaliatory measures by major trading partners, and that a trade war could contribute to inflation in the economy.

Back home, Hero MotoCorp (HMCL) was down 0.99%. The company through its wholly owned subsidiary, HMCL Netherlands B.V. (HMCL BV), entered into a joint venture agreement in 2014 (as subsequently amended from time to time) and certain ancillary agreements inter alia, for sale, distribution and marketing of the company's products in Colombia. The joint venture is being implemented through a joint venture company incorporated in Colombia, i.e. HMCL Colombia S.a.S (the JVC). The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2018.

Pursuant to subsequent investment by HMCL BV into the share capital of the JVC, the equity interests/shareholding of the joint venture partners in the JVC have been re-aligned whereby the company's equity interest/shareholding in the JVC (through HMCL BV) has increased to 68%, on a fully diluted basis, from 51%; and the other joint venture partner's equity interest/shareholding in the JVC, held through Woven Holdings LLC, has decreased to 32%, on a fully diluted basis, from 49%.

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was up 0.10%. The company announced that Mahindra and Ford signed five new memoranda of understanding (MoU) to co-develop midsize and compact SUV and electric vehicle, along with sharing powertrain portfolios. It also aims to embark on joint development of connected vehicle solutions. The agreement strengthens strategic collaboration between these two firms by focusing on product development for India and emerging markets. The MoUs, which are non-binding, mark the progress made by the two companies since announcing their alliance in September 2017. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2018.

L&T Technology Services was up 0.07%. The company said that Germany's Covestro, a world-leading manufacturer of high-tech polymer materials, has chosen the company as one of its major engineering services partners to implement digitalization based Engineering Programs across Covestro's global locations. L&T Technology Services has been awarded a multi-million dollar contract by Covestro to execute these engineering transformational programs. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2018.

Aarey Drugs & Pharmaceuticals was down 0.29%. The company said that the committee of the board has approved the allotment of 33 lakh equity shares at Rs 54.93 per share to eligible Qualified Institutional Buyers in the Qualified Institutional Placement, aggregating to Rs 18.12 crore. The post issue capital will be 2.33 crore equity shares. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 22 March 2018.

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