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Key benchmark indices further extended losses in the mid-morning trade after a private survey data showed deterioration in India's services sector last month. At 11:16 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 302.43 points or 0.89% at 33,744.51. The Nifty 50 index declined 105.65 points or 1.01% at 10,352.70. The Sensex continued to languish below the 34,000 level after falling below that level in early trade. Weakness in Asian stocks also weighed on sentiment on the domestic bourses. Cement and telecom stocks traded in red.
Key indices kick-started the session on a weaker note and languished in negative terrain so far.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.96%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index dropped 0.9%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on the BSE. 1,740 shares declined and 666 shares advanced. A total of 128 shares were unchanged.
Cement stocks dropped. Shree Cement (down 1.91%), Ambuja Cements (down 1.76%), ACC (down 1.62%), Grasim Industries (down 1.57%) and UltraTech Cement (down 1.38%) declined.
Telecom stocks fell. Bharti Infratel (down 1.77%), Bharti Airtel (down 1.37%), Idea Cellular (down 1.14%) and Reliance Communications (down 0.72%) edged lower.
Maruti Suzuki India was down 0.64% at Rs 8,818.95. The company said that its passenger car Alto has scaled the unique feat of 35 lakh sales in cumulative wholesales. Brand Alto has been the best-selling car in India for 14 consecutive years, the company said in a statement. The announcement was made during market hours today, 5 March 2018.
NTPC dropped 1.38% at Rs 160.75. The company said that unit 1 & 2 (2x4 MW) of Singrauli Small Hydro Electric Power Project has been declared on commercial operation with effect from 5 March 2018. With this, total commissioned and commercial capacity of NTPC and NTPC group has become 44,500 MW and 51,391 MW respectively. The announcement was made during market hours today, 5 March 2018.
VST Tillers Tractors rose 0.59% at Rs 2,650 after the company's sales of power tillers surged 65.36% to 2,525 units in February 2018 over February 2017. Sales of tractors rose 46.39% to 953 units.
Among economic data, latest data showed that the business conditions in India's service sector deteriorated in February. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India services purchasing managers' index (PMI) dropped to 47.8 in February, from 51.7 in January.
Among key domestic events, in a big morale booster to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the centre, the BJP along with its ally Indigenous People's Front Of Tripura has secured a comfortable majority by bagging 43 out of 59 seats in the recently held assembly elections in Tripura. In Nagaland, the ruling Naga Peoples Front (NPF) emerged as the single largest party, securing 27 out of 59 seats. The BJP has secured 12 seats. In a rude shock, the Congress party has been wiped out from Tripura and Nagaland, having failed to secure a single seat in these two states. In Meghalaya, the Congress has emerged as the single largest party, securing 21 out of 59 assembly seats, followed by the National People's Party bagging 19 seats. The counting of votes for the assembly elections took place over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the developments in the Budget Session of Parliament will be closely watched. Both the Houses of Parliament which were adjourned on 9 February 2018 for a recess, resumed today, 5 March 2018. The session is expected to be stormy with the Congress and other opposition parties set to raise the issue of multi-crore financial scams involving public-sector banks in both the Houses. The second part of the session would primarily see discussions on the demand for grants for various ministries.
Overseas, Asian stocks edged lower as Chinese leaders headed into an annual parliament meeting. China's National People's Congress meeting kicked off with Premier Li Keqiang announcing 2018 growth target for the country at around 6.5%. Among economic data, the China's Caixin services purchasing managers' index (PMI) dipped to 54.2 in February from 54.7 in the previous month.
US stocks closed well off session lows on Friday, 2 March 2018, helped by a sharp rise in health care shares. Stocks traded sharply lower earlier in the session on fears that President Donald Trump's announced tariffs on steel and aluminum could spark a trade war.
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