Domestic stocks dropped sharply on last trading day of the week on heavy selling pressure in index pivotals. IT stocks dropped. The Sensex settled below the psychological 36,000 mark after moving above and below that level in intraday trade.
The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, lost 689.60 points or 1.89% to settle at 35,742.07. The index hit high of 36,483.49 and low of 35,694.74 in intraday trade.
The Nifty 50 index lost 197.70 points or 1.81% to settle at 10,754. The index hit high of 10,963.65 and low of 10,738.65 in intraday trade.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index lost 1.79%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On the BSE, 905 shares rose and 1686 shares fell. A total of 152 shares were unchanged.
Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE IT index (down 2.62%), the S&P BSE Auto index (down 2.12%) and the S&P BSE Telecom index (down 2.05%), underperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Metal index (down 0.54%), the S&P BSE Power index (down 0.64%) and the S&P BSE Utilities index (down 0.92%), outperformed the Sensex.
Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (down 3.76%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 3.49%), Asian Paints (down 2.63%), Reliance Industries (down 2.56%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.52%) and ICICI Bank (down 2.46%) were the major Sensex losers.
IT stocks dropped. TCS (down 3.02%), Wipro (down 4.23%), HCL Technologies (down 0.34%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.45%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.27%), MindTree (down 0.29%), Hexaware Technologies (down 2.76%) and Mphasis (down 2.18%) declined.
Infosys fell 3.16%. Infosys announced that its board of directors has appointed Nilanjan Roy as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the company, effective 1 March 2019. Nilanjan Roy joins Infosys from Bharti Airtel where he holds the position of Global Chief Financial Officer. Jayesh Sanghrajka will resume his responsibilities as Deputy CFO, effective 1 March 2019. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel dropped 2.74%. Bharti Airtel's board approved sale of up to 59.18 crore equity shares, representing 32% stake of Bharti Infratel owned by the company to its arm Nettle Infrastructure Investments. After the deal, Bharti Airtel will own 18.33% stake in its Infratel arm and Nettle Infrastructure Investments and the public will hold 35.18% and 46.49%, respectively.
Further, the board formed and authorised 'special committee of directors for fund raising' to comprehensively explore/evaluate various options of fund-raising for the company to strengthen its capital structure and balance sheet and place the final recommendation before the board for its approval/final decision. Separately, the Bharti Airtel board Thursday named Badal Bagri as the company's new CFO, who will replace global CFO Nilanjan Roy, who has resigned. The announcements were made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.
Coal India rose 0.28%. Coal India said that its board approved interim dividend of Rs 7.25 per share for the financial year 2018-2019. The record date is on 31 December 2018. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.
Bosch rose 0.64%. Bosch announced that considering the current market situation and reduction in the volumes due to reduction in the customers' requirement, it is proposed to suspend all manufacturing operations at the company's Bidadi Plant in Karnataka on Friday, 28 December 2018 and Saturday, 29 December 2018. There is no financial impact on account of the proposed suspension of operations. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.
Sun Pharmaceutical Industries fell 1.05%. 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.
Punjab National Bank (PNB) rose 0.53%. PNB said that credit ratings agency CRISIL revised ratings on PNB's bonds to CRISIL AA+/CRISIL AA- from 'CRISIL AAA/CRISIL AA. CRISIL has removed its ratings on the debt instruments from rating watch with 'Negative' and has assigned a 'Stable' outlook on the long-term rating. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.
Indian Hume Pipe Company rose 2.82%. Indian Hume Pipe Company said it has received letter of acceptance for the work of Rs 502.89 crore (excluding GST) from Andhra Pradesh Drinking Water Supply Corporation (APDWSC), Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh for the work of construction of drinking water supply projects in Guntur District. The project is to be completed within 24 months. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 20 December 2018.
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was hovering at 70.215, compared with its close of 69.70 during the previous trading session.
In the global commodities markets, Brent for February 2019 settlement was down 3 cents at $54.32 a barrel. The contract tumbled $5.05 a barrel or 2.89% to settle at $54.35 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Overseas, European stocks were lower Friday as automakers to telecoms fell after renewed concerns about U.S.-China tensions spooked investors. Most Asian stocks declined. 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.
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.
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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