More than three losers for every gainer on BSE

The stock market continued to languish in negative terrain after a private survey data showed deterioration in India's services sector last month. At 12:15 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 302.86 points or 0.89% at 33,744.08. The Nifty 50 index declined 112.20 points or 1.07% at 10,346.15. The Sensex continued to languish below the 34,000 level after falling below that level in early trade.

Weakness in Asian stocks also weighed on sentiment on the domestic bourses as investors digested the latest growth forecast for China. IT and realty stocks declined.

Key indices kick-started the session on a weaker note and thereafter extended intraday losses to languish in red so far.

Among secondary indices, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.21%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 1.21%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.

The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than three losers against every gainer on the BSE. 1,917 shares declined and 587 shares advanced. A total of 139 shares were unchanged.

IT stocks dropped. Oracle Financial Services Software (down 2.67%), HCL Technologies (down 2.32%), Persistent Systems (down 1.87%) and Infosys (down 0.33%) declined.

Wipro was down 0.07%. The company announced the expansion of its Live Workspace suite of offerings, providing enterprises with an anywhere, anytime, any device digital workplace. This will allow enterprises to offer their employees a choice when deciding which tools enable them to be more productive, creative and collaborative. The announcement was made after market hours on Thursday, 1 March 2018.

Realty stocks fell. Indiabulls Real Estate (down 4.45%), Oberoi Realty (down 3%), D B Realty (down 2.64%), HDIL (down 2.08%), Godrej Properties (down 1.46%), Unitech (down 1.42%), DLF (down 1.32%) and Prestige Estates Projects (down 1.25%) declined. Sobha (up 0.22%) edged higher.

Among economic data, the business conditions in India's service sector deteriorated in February. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India services purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped to 47.8 in February, from 51.7 in January. The data was released at 10:30 IST today, 5 March 2018.

Among key domestic events, in a big morale booster to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the centre, the BJP along with its ally Indigenous People's Front Of Tripura has secured a comfortable majority by bagging 43 out of 59 seats in the recently held assembly elections in Tripura. In Nagaland, the ruling Naga Peoples Front (NPF) emerged as the single largest party, securing 27 out of 59 seats. The BJP has secured 12 seats. In a rude shock, the Congress party has been wiped out from Tripura and Nagaland, having failed to secure a single seat in these two states. In Meghalaya, the Congress has emerged as the single largest party, securing 21 out of 59 assembly seats, followed by the National People's Party bagging 19 seats. The counting of votes for the assembly elections took place over the weekend.

Meanwhile, the developments in the Budget Session of Parliament will be closely watched. Both the Houses of Parliament which were adjourned on 9 February 2018 for a recess, resumed today, 5 March 2018. The session is expected to be stormy with the Congress and other opposition parties set to raise the issue of multi-crore financial scams involving public-sector banks in both the Houses. The second part of the session would primarily see discussions on the demand for grants for various ministries.

Overseas, Asian stocks edged lower as China's National People's Congress meeting kicked off with Premier Li Keqiang announcing 2018 growth target for China at around 6.5%. Among other economic data, the China's Caixin services purchasing managers' index (PMI) dipped to 54.2 in February from 54.7 in the previous month.

US stocks closed well off session lows on Friday, 2 March 2018, helped by a sharp rise in health care shares. Stocks traded sharply lower earlier in the session on fears that President Donald Trump's announced tariffs on steel and aluminum could spark a trade war.

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