Weakness persisted on the bourses in mid-afternoon trade on heavy selling pressure in index pivotals. At 14:26 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 582.01 points or 1.6% at 35,849.66. The Nifty 50 index was down 178.90 points or 1.63% at 10,772.80. The Sensex was trading below the psychological 36,000 mark after moving above and below that level in intraday trade. Auto stocks dropped.
Domestic stocks turned positive soon after opening lower on negative Asian stocks. Volatility ruled the roost as the key benchmark indices dropped in morning trade. Stocks extended slide in mid-morning trade on fresh selling. Volatility was high in early afternoon trade as the key benchmark indices cut losses soon after hitting intrday low. Shares continued trading with steep losses in afternoon trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was off 1.54%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was off 0.97%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 801 shares rose and 1683 shares fell. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.
Auto stocks dropped. Maruti Suzuki India (down 3%), Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) (down 0.82%), Eicher Motors (down 2.22%), Ashok Leyland (down 1.98%), Escorts (down 1.36%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.13%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.25%) and TVS Motor Company (down 1.37%) declined. Tata Motors (up 0.65%) rose.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 1.28%. 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.
NHPC shed 0.38%. NHPC announced that Parbati-III power station (520 MW) in Himachal Pradesh will be under complete shutdown for three months with effect from 20 December 2018 for 'repair and maintenance of HRT'. Further, NHPC said its buyback offer will open on 1 January 2019. The company will buyback up to 21.42 crore equity shares at Rs 28 each. The offer will close on 14 January 2019. The announcements were made after market hours yesterday, 20 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 reversed losses Friday.
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.
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.
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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