MTNL, Cochin Shipyard, Atul Auto among 505 stocks locked in lower circuits

Stock market crash today: As many as 505 stocks were locked in their lower circuits on the BSE on Monday at 11:51 AM, after a sharp sell-off in mid, small and micro-cap stocks swept markets.

Suraj Estate Developers, Paras Defence and Space Technologies, Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers, Techno Electric & Engineering Company, Gensol Engineering, Apollo Micro Systems, Cochin Shipyard, Waaree Renewable Technologies, Atul Auto, and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) were among the notable stocks that were locked in their lower circuits of 5 per cent on the BSE. Most of these stocks had seen a strong run-up in the past two months.

Of these 505 stocks, as many as 83 per cent or 420 stocks belonged to 'XT', 'T', 'X', and 'Z' categories. 197 stocks were from the 'XT' category, 109 from 'T', 81 from 'X', and 33 from the 'Z' segment on the BSE. A total of 46 stocks from the 'B' group and 7 stocks from the 'A' group were locked in the lower circuits, the exchange data shows.

The 'T' Group represents securities which are settled on a trade-to-trade basis as a surveillance measure. Meanwhile, the equity securities of the companies that are only listed/traded at BSE and satisfy certain parameters into separate sub-segments fall under 'X' and 'XT'.

The 'Z' group, on the other hand, includes companies which have failed to comply with its listing requirements and/or have failed to resolve investor complaints and/or have not made the required arrangements with both the depositories, viz., Central Depository Services (I) Ltd. (CDSL) and National Securities Depository Ltd. (NSDL) for dematerialisation of their securities.

Among individual stocks, Himadri Speciality Chemical was locked in the 5-per cent lower limit at Rs 443.85 on the BSE. The stock of the speciality chemical had hit a 52-week high of Rs 469.75 on Friday, August 2.  In the past two months, the stock has zoomed 50 per cent.

Shares of Aurionpro Solutions, too, were tied in the lower circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 1,700.05. In the past two months, the stock has rallied 72 per cent between June 5 and August 2.

Indian stock markets crumbled on Monday as global peers melted amid weak US jobs data and growing signs of an Iran-Israel war in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. economists have increased the probability of a US recession in the next year to 25 per cent from 15 per cent. They, however, said there are several reasons not to fear a slump even after unemployment jumped.  CLICK HERE FOR FULL REPORT

At 12:25 PM, BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were down 3.6 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively. In comparison, the BSE Sensex was down 2.8 per cent.

Nucleus Software Exports, Kirloskar Brothers, Samvardhana Motherson International, Nuvama Wealth Management, LIC Housing Finance, Bharat Forge, YES Bank, Uno Minda, GMR Airports and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) were down by over 6 per cent.