Sensex, Nifty hit fresh intraday low

Key benchmarks further extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade, tracking subdued global cues and sharp fall in the Indian rupee. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 293.03 points or 0.76% at 38,096.79. The Nifty 50 index was down 99.20 points or 0.86% at 11,489.90. Concerns over heightened US-China trade tensions weighed on investors sentiment.

Indices extended losses in mid-morning trade after opening lower. The Sensex fell 35.30 points, or 0.09% at the day's high of 38,354.52 at the onset of trading session. The index fell 303.08 points, or 0.79% at the day's low of 38,086.74 in mid-morning trade. The Nifty fell 16.10 points, or 0.14% at the day's high of 11,573 at the onset of trading session. The index fell 99.35 points, or 0.86% at the day's low of 11,489.75 in mid-morning trade.

Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.84%, underperforming the Sensex. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.32%, outperforming the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was negative. On BSE, 1040 shares rose and 1275 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.

Most IT stocks rose after the rupee hit record low against the dollar. Persistent Systems (up 4.11%), Hexaware Technologies (up 2.06%), HCL Technologies (up 1.01%), Wipro (up 0.82%), Infosys (up 0.75%), TCS (up 0.38%) and MindTree (up 0.04%), edged higher. Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.29%), MphasiS (down 0.44%) and Tech Mahindra (down 0.83%), edged lower. A weak rupee boosts revenue of IT firms in rupee terms as the sector derives a lion's share of revenue from exports.

In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 72.415, compared with its close of 71.74 during the previous trading session.

Pharmaceuticals shares were mixed. Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 1.02%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 0.87%), Divi's Laboratories (down 0.4%), Strides Shasun (down 0.3%), Alkem Laboratories (down 0.2%), Cadila Healthcare (down 0.09%) and IPCA Laboratories (down 0.09%), edged lower. Aurobindo Pharma (up 0.67%), Wockhardt (up 0.78%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (up 0.98%), Cipla (up 1.13%), Piramal Enterprises (up 1.59%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (up 1.90%) and Lupin (up 1.95%), edged higher.

Overseas, most Asian shares were trading lower on Monday, as trade tensions between the US and China remain in focus. China's trade surplus with the United States widened to a record in August even as the country's export growth slowed slightly. Trade surplus hit $31.05 billion in August, up from $28.09 billion in July, customs data showed on Saturday, surpassing the previous record set in June. Over the first eight months of the year, China's surplus with its largest export market has risen nearly 15%, adding to tensions in the trade relationship between the world's two largest economies. China's annual export growth in August moderated slightly to 9.8%, the data showed, the weakest rate since March but only slightly below recent trends.

US stocks closed lower Friday after US President Donald Trump threatened tariffs on a further $267 billion worth of Chinese imports, on top of earlier promises to levy duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods. While the US tariffs on $200 billion Chinese goods have not been implemented, Trump said they could "take place very soon, depending on what happens with them."

US jobs report that showed that 201,000 jobs were added in the month of August. The unemployment rate held steady at 3.9% and wage growth showed signs of accelerating.

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