Closing Bell
Indian benchmark indices plummeted on Monday tracking intense sell-off in global equities amid rising concerns over Chinese coronavirus epidemic.
After sinking 497 points in opening session, the 30-share barometer continuously fell thereafter and ended 806.69 points, or 1.96 per cent, lower at 40,363.23.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty was down by 242.85 points, or 2.01 per cent, at 11,838.60.
All the heavyweighted stocks ended in the red. Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, cracking over 6 per cent, followed by ONGC, Maruti, Titan, ICICI Bank, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp.
Equities fell in sync with losses in other Asian peers as the spread of the coronavirus outside China clouded the weorld growth outlook.
Metals and Auto stocks met with heavy selling pressure from investors. The BSE Metal index lost 550.55 points, or 5.71%, to 9,084.32., while the Auto index was down 589.01 points, or 3.39%, at 16,776.26.
Asian equity markets drop sharply
Seoul led a sharp drop across Asian equity markets on Monday as South Korea announced a surge in COVID-19 infections, while oil plunged and safe-haven assets rallied on growing concerns about a possible pandemic.
Hong Kong shed 1.6 per cent, with Sydney, Bangkok and Manila each dropping more than two per cent. Taipei, Jakarta, Singapore and Wellington were all off more than one per cent. Mumbai eased 0.8 per cent with eyes on Donald Trump’s visit to India.
Shanghai was off 0.3 per cent, with losses tempered by a series of economy-boosting measures including support for businesses and other stimulus measures.
India VIX up 21%
India VIX is up by 21% at 16.70, which indicates intensified concerns among market players. This is due to jittery after the spread of the coronavirus outside China darkened the outlook for world growth. Volatility index enables market participants to trade expected changes in market volatility in a single transaction. It measures the degree of volatility or fluctuation that active traders expect in the Nifty50 in the short-term.
Hero MotoCorp at 5-year low
The share price of Hero MotoCorp fell more than 2.50 per cent to its five-year low at Rs 2,181.65 in intraday trade on the BSE today and looked on course to extend the losses into the seventh consecutive session.
The stock has been under pressure amid falling sales.
The company reported a 14.5 per cent growth in its December quarter profit at Rs 880 crore versus Rs 769.1 crore in October-December of 2018.
BSE METAL INDEX
SBI Cards IPO to have exclusive day for retail investors?
The initial public offering of SBI Cards and Payment Services will be kept open for four days, according to market sources. The IPO is expected to be launched between March 2 and 5, they added. Currently, IPOs are open for public subscription only for three days.
Tube Investments board meets on Feb 28 for dividend
Tube Investments board meeting is convened to be held on Friday 28, 2020 for considering the declaration of an interim dividend, if any, for the financial year ending 31st March 2020.
The 'Trading Window' for dealing in the securities of the company remains closed for the Insiders of the Company from February 21, 2020 to 1st March 2020 (both days inclusive).
Shares of Tube Investments have jumped 8 per cent to Rs 546.35 on the BSE today.
Nifty Call: Sell on rallies with stop-loss at 11,975
Nifty 50 February Futures (11,932)
The Sensex and the Nifty commenced the session with a gap-down opening, tracking the weak global cues. The Hang Seng index has slumped 446 points or 1.6 per cent to 26,858 in today's session. S&P 500 index had declined 1 per cent on Friday. Both the Sensex and the Nifty has tumbled about 1 per cent each on the back of selling pressure. The market breadth of the Nifty index is biased towards declines.
Otis to supply elevators to Bengaluru Metro project
Otis Elevator Co. announced on Monday it has been selected to provide 112 Gen2 elevators for the second phase of the Bengaluru Metro project.
A unit of the New York Stock Exchange-listed United Technologies Corp., it will supply the units from its local manufacturing facility here, a company statement said.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), a joint venture of Government of India and Government of Karnataka, is a special purpose vehicle entrusted with the responsibility of implementation of the project.
In 2018, its riding network boasted a recorded annual ridership of 131.7 million, the statement said.
The Metro projects second phase is expected to be completed by 2023.
It will cover 27 stations connecting the city’s manufacturing and tech hubs of Electronics City and Whitefield, it was noted. - PTI
GMR Infra shares soar over 12 per cent on stake sale in airport biz
Shares of GMR Infrastructure on Monday surged over 12 per cent after the CCI gave approval for the GMR group’s proposed 49 per cent stake sale in its airport business to France’s Groupe ADP.
The stock hit a high of Rs 26.55, up 12.5 per cent, on the BSE. Later, it shed some gains to trade higher by 10.81 per cent at Rs 26.15.
Supreme Ind board to consider dividend on Feb 28
Supreme Industries has fixed Monday, the March 9, 2020, as the "Record Date", for the purpose of ascertaining the eligibility of the shareho lders for payment of 2nd Interim Dividend, if and to the extent as may be declared, by the Board of Directors at its meeting, scheduled to be held on Friday, February 28, 2020.
SREI announces RD for payment of interest on secured Redeemable Non-Convertible Debenture Holders
SREI Ltd has informed the BSE that as per the terms of issue for the below mentioned security, the payment of Interest due on April 1, 2020 shall he made to the Debenture Holders· whose name appears in the Register of Debenture Holder as on March 17, 2020. The record date is 15. days prior to the Interest Payment date I.e. the record date will be March 17, 2020.
Young India increasingly looking to MF for retirement corpus: AMFI
Young India seems to be saving big time for retirement, and mutual fund schemes are emerging as the popular long-term retirement avenue.
The assets under management (AUM) of retirement solution-oriented mutual fund schemes saw a 24 per cent increase to ₹10,425.28 crore as of January-end, against the ₹8,376 crore logged in as of April-end.
Tata Motors board approves NCD issue
Tata Motors' board Committee approved offering for subscription, on a private placement basis, upto 5,000 Rated, Listed, Unsecured, Redeemable, Non-Convertible Debentures ("NCDs") E28-B Series of face value Rs 10 00 000 each, at par, aggregating upto Rs 500 crores comprising two tranches, Tranche I and Tranche II of Rs 250 crore each.
PVR Board to mull dividend plan
The Board of Directors of PVR Limited would meet on Friday, February 28, 2020, to consider a proposal relating to declaration of Interim Dividend, if any, for the Financial Year 2019-20.
Further it is informed that as per Company’s Code of Conduct for Prohibition of Insider Trading framed pursuant to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Prohibition of Insider Trading) Regulations, 2015, the trading window for dealing in the securities of the company will be closed on account of declaration of Interim Dividend, if any, for all designated employees for the period from February 21, 2020 to March 1, 2020 (both days inclusive) for trading in equity shares of the Company
Ambuja Cement shares climb over 3 per cent
Shares of Ambuja Cement went up sharply bucking the overall weakness in the market. The stock climbed nearly 3.50% to Rs 212.65 on the BSE. Volumes trade in the counter were higher at 1.28 lakh shares as against its two-week average traded quantity of 73,000 shares.
The stock has been rising for the last five trading sessions from Rs 198 traded on Feb 18 to the current levels of Rs 212.65 on the BSE.
Ambuja Cement reported that its consolidated net profit halved to ₹722 crore for the December quarter, against ₹1,378 crore in the same period last year.
The company’s net profit last December quarter was boosted by a one-time write-back of tax provision of ₹873 crore. Revenue from operations was up 6 per cent at ₹7,126 crore (₹6,729 crore).
The company announced that it would pay a dividend of ₹1.50 per share subject to the approval of the shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting.
Exide announces interim dividend
Exide Industries has declared an Interim Dividend of Rs 2.50 Per Share, the company said in its fliing to the BSE. The stock was down nearly 1 per cent or Rs 1.70 at Rs 176.30 on the BSE today.
BSE AUTO INDEX
Killing the goose that laid golden eggs
When the economy was opened up after the 1991 crisis, a few sectors did remarkably well and were thought of as ‘sunrise sectors’. Several private sector players emerged in fields such as telecom (Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, etc), civil aviation (Kingfisher, Jet, Modi Luft, Sahara, etc), Private sector banks (Kotak, YES, IndusInd, etc) and power.
Their stories did not end well, and a lot of it is due to the unequal playing field.
Rupee slips 15 paise to 71.79 against US dollar
The Indian rupee declined by 30 paise to 71.94 against the US dollar in opening trade on Monday amid muted opening in domestic equities and strengthening of the American currency overseas.
Sensex, Nifty down 1%
Market benchmark Sensex plummeted over 400 points ion Monday tracking intense selloff in global equities amid rising concerns over Chinese coronavirus epidemic.
After sinking 497 points in opening session, the 30-share barometer was trading 410.12 points, or 1 per cent, lower at 40,760.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty was trading down by 135.85 points, or 1.12 per cent, at 11,945.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, cracking over 4 per cent, followed by HDFC, ITC, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC and PowerGrid.
On the other hand, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Sun Pharm and HUL were trading with gains.
In the previous session on Thursday, the Sensex settled 152.88 points, or 0.37 per cent, lower at 41,170.12, and Nifty slipped 45.05 points, or 0.37 per cent, to 12,080.85.
Financial markets remained closed on Friday on account of ‘Mahashivratri’
Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign institutional investors bought equities worth Rs 1,495.25 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 699.62 crore on Thursday, data available with stock exchanges showed.
According to traders, spike in coronavirus cases outside China has spooked global investors.
South Korea went on high alert Sunday following a sharp jump in coronavirus cases, and Italy and Iran took their own drastic containment steps.
Further, IMF also warned that the deadly epidemic could put an already fragile global economy recovery at risk.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday said the coronavirus epidemic is the country’s “largest public health emergency”. The death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 2,592 on Monday.
Bourses in Seoul plunged over 3 per cent after South Korea reported 161 more coronavirus cases Monday, taking the nationwide total to 763 and making it the world’s largest total outside China.
Stock exchanges in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo were also trading significantly lower.
Brent crude oil futures fell 2.52 per cent to USD 56.48 per barrel.
The rupee depreciated 19 paise to 71.83 against the US dollar in morning session.
On the domestic front, traders said investors are likely to take cues from US President Donald Trump’s two-day visit to India. He will reach Ahmedabad later in the day. - PTI
Seoul worst hit as Asia markets plunge on virus worries
Seoul led a sharp drop across Asian equity markets Monday as South Korea announced a surge in COVID-19 infections, while oil plunged and safe haven assets rallied on growing concerns about the global spread of the deadly virus.
With the outbreak showing little sign of easing investors are increasingly concerned it could have a much longer term impact on the world economy, which was already stuttering, with a number of companies warning about their bottom lines.
Go long in rupee with stop-loss at 72.1
The rupee (INR) declined last week against closing at 71.66 versus previous week’s close of 71.37 against the dollar (USD). This is the lowest weekly close since the first week of January 2020. Year-to-date, the local currency has lost 0.63 per cent against the dollar.
Oil prices skid on demand concerns as coronavirus spreads globally
Oil prices tumbled nearly 3 per cent towards a one-week low on Monday as the rapid spread of the coronavirus in several countries outside China left investors fretting about a hit to demand.
Global shares also extended losses as concerns about the impact of the new virus grew, with the number of infections jumping in South Korea, Italy and Iran.
NIFTY SECTORAL INDICES
Weekly trading guide: ITC might witness short-term recovery
SBI (₹327.6)
Last week, the stock price of SBI moderated to ₹310, which coincides with the 38.2 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of the previous uptrend. It witnessed a considerable buying interest at that level; the price rallied and the stock closed the week at ₹327.6. This is the highest weekly close in the past five weeks. It has broken above the resistance at ₹325.
Coronavirus spread beyond China drives investors to dollars
Asian currencies slid on Monday as the rapid spread of the coronavirus outside China drove fears of a pandemic and sent investors flocking to gold and the dollar for safety. Italy, South Korea and Iran posted sharp rises in infections over the weekend. South Korea now has more than 760 cases, Italy more than 150 and Iran 43 cases.
Stock markets tank early
Stock market indices slumped tracking global weakness on growing concerns about the economic impact of the coronavirus spread globally.
Heavyweights such as Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ITC, Maruti, ICICI Bank, L&T, M&M, ONGC, HeroMotoCorp fell between 1.50 per cent and 3.75 per cent.
Global markets fell as China took more drastic steps to combat the coronavirus.
Seoul led a sharp drop across Asian equity markets Monday as South Korea announced a surge in COVID-19 infections, while oil plunged and safe haven assets rallied on growing concerns about the global spread of the deadly virus
The 30-share BSE index opened lower at 41,037.01 and fell further to a low of 40,673.38.
At present, the Sensex was quoted at 40,748.17, down by 421.95 points from its previous close of 41,170.12.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty lost 131.90 points, or 1.09 per cent, at 11,948.95.
Gold prices climbed more than 2% on Monday to their highest since February 2013, as a spike in coronavirus cases in several countries outside China heightened worries about a hit to global economic growth, prompting a flight to safe havens. Spot gold was up 1.1% at $1,661.86 per ounce, after climbing to $1,678.58 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures rose 1% to 1,664.60
Rupee down 30 paise against dollar
Rupee slips 30 paise to 71.94 against US dollar in early trade on Monday
Concern over coronavirus spread grows with cases jumping in South Korea, Italy and Iran
International concern about the spread of coronavirus outside China grew on Sunday with sharp rises in infections in three countries - South Korea, Italy and Iran.
Index Outlook: How long can the bulls prop Sensex, and Nifty 50?
If life is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing, the same applies for stock markets too. The Sensex and the Nifty 50 are currently almost unchanged from the level where they began 2020 though market commentators and analysts have gone through an extremely difficult two months – first worrying over the US-Iran tension, then the Union Budget and now the COVID-19.
RCom CoC to vote on resolution plan today
The Committee of Creditors (CoC), tasked with finding buyers for the Anil Ambani-promoted Reliance Communications (RCom) and its two companies, will vote on a resolution plan today. “We wish to inform you that the 18th meeting of Committee of Creditors of Reliance Communications is scheduled to be convened on Monday, February 24, 2020,” RCom said in a regulatory filing on Sunday.
Global markets drop, gold surges as investors scurry for safety
Global shares and oil slid on Monday while safe-haven gold surged as the spread of the coronavirus outside China darkened the outlook for world growth with infections and deaths rising in South Korea, Italy and the Middle East.
South Korea put the country on high alert while the number of infections jumped to over 700 and deaths rose to seven. In Italy, officials said a third person infected with the flu-like virus had died, while the number of cases jumped to above 150 from just three before Friday.
Domestic market to remain volatile ahead of F&O expiry; investors eye Trump visit
Domestic market is expected to remain volatile ahead of derivatives expiry as investors await fresh cues from US President Donald Trump’s visit next week, according to analysts.
Market participants will also be eyeing GDP estimates and infrastructure data, due to be released on Friday.
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