Sensex, Nifty drop 1%; Metal stocks plunge

The Indian stock market plunged for the seventh straight day, with the benchmark breaking key support levels, as uncertainty over economic growth and corporate profits persisted. Investors will keep an eye on the two-day Goods & Services Tax Council meet which begins later in the day. The GST COUNCIL will discuss drafts of the model GST, integrated GST and states' compensation bills.

The BSE SENSEX ended with a loss of 263 points at 25,980. The benchmark indices opened at 26,224, touched an intra-day high of 26,248 and low of 25,940.

The NSE NIFTY was down 82 points and closed at 7,979. It opened at 8,044 points, hitting a high of 8,046 and low of 7,965. The week also saw the added pressure of geopolitical uncertainties, amid wafer-thin volumes, as traders hit the snooze button going into the December holiday season and year-end.

The Sensex drifted below 26,000 level, while the broader Nifty50 slid below the crucial 8,000 level for the first time since November 25.

Sentiments remained down-beat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top economic adviser Bibek Debroy has said that the negative shock from demonetisation will last until the end of March, though he also said that improved growth next year should fully compensate for the loss.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was up 5.76% at 15.55. The BSE Midcap closed at 11,809 and Smallcap indices closed at 11,802. Out of 1,887 stocks traded on the NSE, 886 declined and 316 advanced today.

All the sectors closed in red and heavy selling pressure was seen in metal, banking, financial services, IT, telecom, realty and utilities sectors.

A total of six stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, whereas 31 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

At the close of day, Asian Paints, ITC, Tata Motors, Infratel, Eicher Motors and ACC were the top gainers while Hindalco, Adani Ports, ONGC, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, IndusInd Bank and SBI were among the losers on NSE.

The Indian Rupee was trading lower by three paise at 67.93 per dollar. Gold was trading at Rs 26,918 per 10 gms and silver was trading at Rs 38,983 per kg.

On the global front, Asian markets closed lower on Thursday. Hang Seng slipped 1%, while Shanghai Composite closed marginally up.

European markets were lower as trading desks began to thin out on the last full day of work for London's financial sector before the long Christmas break. FTSE 100, DAX and CAC40 were trading marginally lower.

Metal stocks fell 1-4% today as global base metal prices slipped. Nifty Bank ended at lowest level since June 30, below 17,900 level dragged by Axis Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Canara Bank, dropped between 2-2.5%.

Mandhana Retail Ventures Ltd hits 5% lower circuit at Rs 184.30 on the BSE. The shares hit a lower circuit of 4.98% to Rs 182.15 and this was the fifth lower circuit in five days for the company.

JBF Industries Ltd tanked 4.3% to Rs 221 on the BSE after Copthall Mauritius Investment sold entire 3.94% stake in the company.

Phoenix Mills Limited rose 2% after the company has informed the exchanges that its wholly owned subsidiary Island Star Mall Developers Private Limited has entered into a non-binding term sheet with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on the basis of which the proposed investor may, subject to execution of definitive agreements by the parties and fulfillment of conditions as may be applicable from time to time, over a 3 year period acquire up to 49% of the post issue paid up-up equity share capital of ISML (on a fully dilute basis).

Empee Distilleries soared 2.3% to Rs 54.60 on the BSE. The company's board meeting is scheduled to be held on December 26, to consider and approve sale of 1,95,12,997 equity shares of Rs 10 each held by the company in Empee Hotels (unlisted entity).

SPARC gained 1.5% after the pharma company has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the USFDA for the New Drug Application (NDA) for Xelpros, Latanoprost BAK-free eyedrops.

Sensex loses ground, Nifty grim, goes below 8100

The Nifty breached the 8100 mark while the Sensex too traded in the negative zone even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the RBI is releasing adequate currency everyday post demonetisation  Shares of non-banking finance companies are likely to fall further as sentiment takes a hit due to uncertainty over earnings after demonetisation. 

At 2.30 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 26324.27 down 44.13  points, while the Nifty is trading at 8089, down 16.80 points.

Ambuja Cement maintained its position of the highest gainer in trade for the day so far, followed by TCS, Infy, Coal India, NTPC and ITC. Among the biggest losers are Idea, Bosch, Bank Of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto and Tata Steel.

TCS is so far among the highest gainers of the trade following the exit of Cyrus Mistry who announced his resignation from the boards of Tata Motors, Indian Hotels and four other companies.

A total of 12 stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 20 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Out of 1888 stocks traded on the NSE, 1162 declined, 408 advanced and 318 remained unchanged today.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down  1.31% at 12014.05, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 0.94% at 11944.44.

The INDIA VIX is down 1.49% at 14.61.

Indices down Bajaj Hindustan off lows, down 0.5% as company to sell its Rs 18 bln power plant to group company. Idea cellular down 3.5%, worst hit on Nifty 50.

Shares of non-banking finance companies are likely to fall further as sentiment takes a hit due to uncertainty over earnings after demonetisation and as Maharashtra government said it will set up a probe on violations by microfinance companies in the state.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial, Bharat Financial Inclusion, Bajaj Finance, Can Fin homes, Dewan Housing Finance were down 2-6%.

Shares of Prestige Estates Projects were up 5% at Rs172.20 as the company's results for the quarter ending December are not expected to see any major hit due to the currency demonetisation, analysts say. 

India Ratings and Research (IndRa) has assigned Yes Bank Ltd a LongTerm Issuer Rating of ‘IND AA+’ with a Stable Outlook and ShortTerm Issuer Rating of ‘IND A1+’. The agency has also assigned Yes Bank’s proposed Rs 21 billion of Basel III Additional Tier1 (AT1) bonds an ‘IND AA’ rating with a Stable Outlook.

ICRA has assigned the rating of [ICRA]AAA(stable) to Rs. 15,000 crore Unsecured redeemable long term bonds of ICICI Bank Limited.It also has rating outstanding of [ICRA]AAA  with a stable outlook on Rs. 23,050 crore of Lower Tier II Bonds Programme, Rs. 20,000 crore Unsecuredredeemable long term bonds programme and Rs. 146 crore of long term bonds of IBL.

Asian indices traded in red with Hang Seng at 21,729.06, Straits Times  at 2,905.35 while Nikkei 225  traded in green at 19,494.53.

For the European markets, DAX  traded in green at 11,439.27 and so was CAC 40 at 4,837.60, while FTSE 100 traded in red at 7,005.24
 

Bank of Japan, on expected lines, has kept policy rates unchanged; says economy will witness moderate growth and will persist with asset purchasing till Japan reaches 2 pc inflation.

Buzzing Stocks:
 
Govt may announce winner of Rs 60,000 cr defence order today. Titagarh Wagon very interesting contender along with Tata Power.
 
Cos to focus: L&T, M&M, Pipavav, TaMo + Bharat Forge, Tata Power + Titagarh wagon.
 
Lupin announced the launch of a generic version of its voriconazole tablets and oral suspension used for the treatment of fungal infections in children.
 
Cipla has received final approval from the US health regulator for lipid regulating Fenofibrate tablets.
 
Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) is in talks with Japan's Nippon Steel and Sumitomo MetalCorp and Kobe Steel Ltd for potential technical agreements to help the firm expand its global footprint.
 
The board of directors of Pennar Industries Ltd is evaluating the merger of its subsidiary Pennar Enviro Ltd into Pennar Industries.
 
Stung by fluctuation in price of coking coal, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is desperately seeking an alternative solution to reduce its dependence on imports.
 
The government over the next few days will examine the status of 72 coal blocks allocated either through allotment or auction route to companies like NTPC, JSW Steel, Hindalco and SAIL.
 
Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) has lined up Rs 80 bn additional investment for its Odisha operations. The money will be spent on the addition of a blast furnace to take its Angul steel plant capacity to 6mt, setting up of a cement plant, laying of the slurry pipeline to carry iron ore from mines to the steel plant and setting up of a pellet plant.
 
Divi's Laboratories Limited has chalked out alternate plans to keep the capacity expansion going after the Rs 5 bn greenfield project near Kakinada ran into rough weather, first by the local protests and later by an interim order issued by Hyderabad high court pertaining to the project land. 
 
Glenmark is developing specialty respiratory and dermatology products as a part of its long-term growth strategy.

Sensex falls below 26K, down 258 points

The Nifty slipped below the 8,000 mark for the first time since November 25.

The Indian stock market continued to trade lower after Asian markets suffered modest losses taking cues from a lackluster day on Wall Street as investors locked in gains in thin trade ahead of the upcoming holidays. Investors will keep an eye on the two-day GST Council meet which begins later in the day. The GST Council will discuss drafts of the model GST, integrated GST and states' compensation Bills.

At 12:50 PM, the S&P BSE Sensex is trading at 25,980 down 262 points, while NSE Nifty is trading at 7,997 down 64 points.

A total of five stocks registered a fresh 52-week high in trade today, while 23 stocks touched a new 52-week low on the NSE.

Out of 1,885 stocks traded on the NSE, 1,272 declined, 254 advanced and 359 remained unchanged today.

The BSE Mid-cap Index is trading down 1.41% at 11,816, whereas BSE Small-cap Index is trading down 1.27% at 11,800.

All the BSE sectoral indices were trading in the negative territory.

Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Wipro and Cipla are among the gainers, whereas ONGC, Axis Bank, GAIL, HDFC and Dr Reddy's are losing sheen on BSE.

The INDIA VIX is up 4.86% at 15.4200.

Vedanta Ltd is currently trading at Rs 217.5, down by Rs 8.55 or 3.78% from its previous closing of Rs 226.05 on the BSE. The scrip opened at Rs 225.5 and has touched a high and low of Rs 225.5 and Rs 216.4 respectively. So far 5426444 (NSE+BSE) shares were traded on the counter. The current market cap of the company is Rs 67016.91 crore.

Wockhardt Ltd is currently trading at Rs 660.15, down by Rs 11.25 or 1.68% from its previous closing of Rs 671.4 on the BSE.

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is trading in green on the BSE.  Sun Pharmaceutical and includes its subsidiaries or associate companies announced its plans to acquire a branded oncology product, Odomzo, from Novartis.

Empee Distilleries soared 3.5% to Rs 55.20 on the BSE. The company's board meeting is scheduled to be held on December 26, to consider and approve sale of 1,95,12,997 equity shares of Rs 10 each held by the company in Empee Hotels (unlisted entity).

SPARC jumped 3.4% after the pharma company has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the USFDA for the New Drug Application (NDA) for Xelpros, Latanoprost BAK-free eyedrops.

South Indian Bank slipped 0.48%. The bank said its board has approved issuing one equity share for every three equity shares held by shareholders on rights basis.

Godrej Properties slipped 1%. RKN Enterprises has acquired 39,86,400 shares, or 1.84% stake in Godrej Properties from Rishad K Naoroji.

KDDL rallied 5.3% after the company has allotted 2,64,150 zero coupon convertible warrants at premium of Rs 255 per share to Swades Capital LLC, a promoter group entity.

Nitesh Estates advanced 1%. Nitesh Estates has informed bourses that the company has redeemed 700 non convertible debentures (Unlisted NCD) out of 1,250 non convertible debentures held by IDFC Limited for the aggregate value of Rs 70 crore.

IFCI Ltd tanked 2.6%. The company said it has raised benchmark lending rate by 0.1% point (10 basis points) to 8.6%.

Alankit soared 3%. Alankit has informed stock exchanges that the company has been appointed as E-KYC User Agency (KUA) for the usage of Aadhaar Authentication Services provided by UIDAI to provide Aadhaar Enabled Services to company beneficiaries, clients and customers.

The Indian rupee opened higher by eight paise at 67.82 per dollar versus previous close of 68.90.

Greenback has lost some ground against Yen, while Sterling has been shaky this week, with values sinking to one-month low of $1.2313 at one point of time yesterday. Recent trajectory in Pound is clearly influenced by Scottish push for independence from UK in order to maintain access to EU’s single market. Meanwhile, Euro has managed some recovery, deriving cues from reports that Italian parliament approved US$21bn bailout plan to recapitalize country's beleaguered banks.

It could take another three months to get over the negative shock of demonetisation but this could get compensated by a positive impact in FY18, says a senior adviser to PM Modi.

The finance ministry is bracing up for a heated discussion today as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance will face a volley of questions regarding the ill-preparedness of the demonetization drive. RBI Governor will be called at a later date by the committee.

Meanwhile, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes suggest Q3 assessment is likely to be clouded by withdrawal of bank notes; GVA growth has been revised from 7.6% to 7.1%.

The demonetisation impact on growth will be ‘transient and uncertain’. The rupee saw some relief with the dollar cooling against other emerging currencies. 

Gold manage to shine a little after days of dullness. A dull day is in store for the market. The Dow failed yet again to cross the psychological 20,000 mark and ended in the red.

Asian indices opened flat to marginally weak as US indices also had a rather quiet session with the Dow Jones ending marginally in the red. Pullback in oil prices & yields edging lower were the theme for the day as US$ also saw profit booking. Emerging markets continue to be the favorite punching bag on both currency & equity front as investors exit seeking better opportunities in US equity & bonds.

Sensex, Nifty to open on a flat note

The outlook is a flat start. It could take another three months to get over the negative shock of demonetisation but this could get compensated by a positive impact in FY18, says a senior adviser to PM Modi.

The finance ministry is bracing up for a heated discussion today as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance will face a volley of questions regarding the ill-preparedness of the demonetization drive. RBI Governor will be called at a later date by the committee.

Meanwhile, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes suggest Q3 assessment is likely to be clouded by withdrawal of bank notes; GVA growth has been revised from 7.6% to 7.1%.

The demonetisation impact on growth will be ‘transient and uncertain’. The rupee saw some relief with the dollar cooling against other emerging currencies. 

Gold manage to shine a little after days of dullness. A dull day is in store for the market. The Dow failed yet again to cross the psychological 20,000 mark and ended in the red.

Asian indices opened flat to marginally weak as US indices also had a rather quiet session with the Dow Jones ending marginally in the red. Pullback in oil prices & yields edging lower were the theme for the day as US$ also saw profit booking. Emerging markets continue to be the favorite punching bag on both currency & equity front as investors exit seeking better opportunities in US equity & bonds.  

Nifty gave up all gains in last half hour & drifted towards 8050 as renewed bout of foreign selling emerged. Banks, IT & Fmcg saw huge profit booking with commodities & auto's seeing buying. For today weak sentiment could see 8000 being tested as year end repatriation by select foreign investors could continue this week.The outlook is a flat start. It could take another three months to get over the negative shock of demonetisation but this could get compensated by a positive impact in FY18, says a senior adviser to PM Modi.

The finance ministry is bracing up for a heated discussion today as the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance will face a volley of questions regarding the ill-preparedness of the demonetization drive. RBI Governor will be called at a later date by the committee.

Meanwhile, RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee minutes suggest Q3 assessment is likely to be clouded by withdrawal of bank notes; GVA growth has been revised from 7.6% to 7.1%.

The demonetisation impact on growth will be ‘transient and uncertain’. The rupee saw some relief with the dollar cooling against other emerging currencies. 

Gold manage to shine a little after days of dullness. A dull day is in store for the market. The Dow failed yet again to cross the psychological 20,000 mark and ended in the red.

Asian indices opened flat to marginally weak as US indices also had a rather quiet session with the Dow Jones ending marginally in the red. Pullback in oil prices & yields edging lower were the theme for the day as US$ also saw profit booking. Emerging markets continue to be the favorite punching bag on both currency & equity front as investors exit seeking better opportunities in US equity & bonds.  

Nifty gave up all gains in last half hour & drifted towards 8050 as renewed bout of foreign selling emerged. Banks, IT & Fmcg saw huge profit booking with commodities & auto's seeing buying. For today weak sentiment could see 8000 being tested as year end repatriation by select foreign investors could continue this week.