Shares pare early losses; Nifty regains 11,400 mark

Benchmark indices pared early losses in morning trade with the Nifty reclaiming 11,400 mark. Weak global cues and rising COVID-19 cases spoiled sentiment. Banks shares witnessed major selling while pharma shares bucked trend.

At 10:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 477.57 points or 1.22% at 38,513.67. The Nifty 50 index declined 126 points or 1.09% at 11,401.30.

The broader market slipped after three days of gains. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.51% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 0.52%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 708 shares rose and 1413 shares fell. A total of 140 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 7.72 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 120.08 crore in the Indian equity market on 3 September 2020, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 26,220,930 with 867,630 deaths. India reported 8,31,124 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 68,472 deaths while 30,37,151 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Bank index tumbled 1.69% to 23,133.75. Federal Bank (down 2.24%), SBI (down 2.09%), Bank of Baroda (down 2.01%), Bandhan Bank (down 1.93%), Axis Bank (down 1.89%), RBL Bank (down 1.82%) and Punjab National Bank (down 1.74%) were top losers in Bank Nifty.

Banks were under pressure after the Supreme Court of India on Thursday passed an interim order saying that the accounts not declared as non-performing asset (NPA) as on 31 August shall not be declared as NPAs till further notice. When the Indian Bankers Association offered a two-month moratorium on declaring a non-serviced loan account as NPA, SC passed this interim order restraining banks from declaring loans as NPAs to protect borrowers, who are facing difficulties in arranging funds for loan repayment. The Supreme Court will continue the hearing of the case on 10 September.

Stocks in Spotlight:

KEC International fell 1.43%. The EPC company said it secured new orders worth Rs 1,401 crore across its various businesses. The company's transmission & distribution (T&D) business, including SAE Towers, has secured orders of Rs 1,143 crore for various T&D projects from Oman Electricity Transmission Company (OETC), Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL) and other customers. The railways business has secured orders of Rs 120 crore for overhead electrification (OHE)/civil works in India. The smart infra business has secured orders of Rs 48 crore in the defence segment in India. The company's cable business has secured orders of Rs 90 crore for supply of various types of cables/cabling projects in India and overseas. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday.

Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals fell 0.22%. The company on Thursday said it has restarted its methanol plant with installed capacity of 525 metric tonnes (MT) per day. The plant was commissioned earlier in 2013, however, no commercial production took place in the plant since it was unviable due to high raw material cost and non-availability of market. Methanol is used in many industrial applications like formaldehyde, API formulations, methyl amines, dyes & intermediates, paints, solvents, adhesives, pesticides etc. In the Indian market, the major application of methanol is in formaldehyde, which accounts for 60% of methanol consumption. The production would be an import substitution for China.

CreditAccess Grameen rose 2.45% to Rs 706.25 on BSE after the company's board of directors approved a proposal for fund raising by way of issue of equity shares of Rs 1,000 crore.

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