Sensex drops below 36,000 as index pivotals slide

Key indices dropped sharply on last trading day of the week on heavy selling pressure in index pivotals. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, lost 689.60 points or 1.89% at 35,742.07, as per the provisional closing data. The Nifty 50 index lost 197.70 points or 1.81% at 10,754, as per the provisional closing data. The Sensex settled below the psychological 36,000 mark after moving above and below that level in intraday trade.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 1.79%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1%.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 901 shares rose and 1691 shares fell. A total of 151 shares were unchanged.

Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 3.76%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 3.49%), Asian Paints (down 2.63%), Reliance Industries (down 2.56%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.52%) and ICICI Bank (down 2.46%) were the major Sensex losers.

Telecom major Bharti Airtel dropped 2.74%. Bharti Airtel's board approved sale of up to 59.18 crore equity shares, representing 32% stake of Bharti Infratel owned by the company to its arm Nettle Infrastructure Investments. After the deal, Bharti Airtel will own 18.33% stake in its Infratel arm and Nettle Infrastructure Investments and the public will hold 35.18% and 46.49%, respectively.

Further, the board formed and authorised 'special committee of directors for fund raising' to comprehensively explore/evaluate various options of fund-raising for the company to strengthen its capital structure and balance sheet and place the final recommendation before the board for its approval/final decision. Separately, the Bharti Airtel board Thursday named Badal Bagri as the company's new CFO, who will replace global CFO Nilanjan Roy, who has resigned. The announcements were made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 1.05%. The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has granted approval for the New Drug Application (NDA), to a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, for ElepsiaTM XR 1000 mg (levetiracetam 1000 mg) and ElepsiaTM XR 1500 mg (levetiracetam 1500 mg). This product was filed from SPIL's Halol (Gujarat, India) facility. The announcement was made during market hours today, 21 December 2018.

Overseas, European stocks were lower Friday as automakers to telecoms fell after renewed concerns about U.S.-China tensions spooked investors. Most Asian stocks declined. US stocks closed sharply lower Thursday with investors rattled after the Federal Reserve's interest-rate policy and fresh concerns of a partial government shutdown undercut buying appetite.

Investors are worried about renewed U.S.-China tensions impacting trade talks after China on Friday demanded the U.S. Justice Department withdraw charges that allege Chinese officials coordinated a decade-long espionage campaign to steal intellectual property and other data from dozens of companies.

Meanwhile, fears over a potential partial government shutdown intensified after reports that President Donald Trump told House Republicans he would refuse to sign an appropriations bill passed by the Senate that would avert a shutdown, unless both houses of Congress agree to appropriate $5 billion in extra funds for expansion of the US southern border wall.

On the macro front, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released the results of its monthly regional survey of manufacturers, with the index showing a reading of 9.4, down from 12.9 in November.

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