Markets Live: Sensex drops 150 points; YES Bank, Reliance major losers

Weekly outlook: MCX-Lead

The 200-day moving average is poised at ₹156, which is a key immediate resistance. A strong break above it can ease the downside pressure and take the contract higher to ₹160 again. Read more

 

 

European shares

European shares rose helped by good-looking results from companies, including insurance heavyweights Munich Re and Generali, while Societe Generale fell after its deputy CEO unexpectedly quit. Read more

 

Domestic equities ended at their lowest close in about a week on Thursday and posted their biggest percentage fall in more than a week as financial and energy stocks hurt sentiment.

The Sensex ended lower by 150.2 points or 0.44 per cent at 33,685.54 and the Nifty down 50.75 points or 0.49 per cent at 10,360.15.

Among BSE sectoral indices , oil & gas index fell the most by 1.04 per cent, followed by metal 0.54 per cent, FMCG 0.52 per cent and banking 0.49 per cent. On the other hand, infrastructure index was up 0.26 per cent and power 0.14 per cent.

 

 

Top five Sensex gainers were Asian Paints, M&M, Coal India, Infosys and HDFC Bank, while the major losers were YES Bank, Reliance, ICICI Bank, HUL and Tata Steel.

Nifty gainers

Nifty losers

 

NSE sectoral indices

 

Providing for your parents

Parents strive hard to secure their child’s life both financially and emotionally. Likewise, when parents grow old and are unable to help themselves, children often want to provide them with financial and emotional support. Read more

 

Degrees of housing comfort

When you look for student housing, you can follow three routes. One, look at general listing sites or advertisements that also feature student rentals. Two, track aggregators who specialise in the student segment. Rather than just list vacancy, they actively look for and verify the features in the properties. Three, look directly for service providers who run the hostels. Read more

 

 

Unlock your claimed money

There are times when shares or dividends held with the company investors had parked their money in are moved to a separate unpaid divided account, as per the Companies Act, 2013. Such unclaimed funds are transferred to the Investor Education and Protection Fund by the companies after a waiting period of seven consecutive years. Read more

 

 

Novel ways to gift mutual funds

Considering that mutual funds are good savings vehicles, these investments are being encouraged to be given as gifts to your near and dear ones. Read more

 

 

At 2.25 pm, the Sensex was trading lower by 109.40 points or 0.32 per cent at 33,726.34 and the Nifty down 35.35 points or 0.34 per cent at 10,375.55. Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas, metal, banking and FMCG succumbed to selling pressure. Continued selling by DIIs and foreign funds coupled with weak Asian cues dampened the domestic sentiment.

Sensex gainers, losers

Nifty gainers

Nifty losers

 

 

ArcelorMittal mulls new plant at Paradip

ArcelorMittal is confident of not only turning around the stressed asset of Essar Steel, but will also explore setting up a new steel plant closer to the company’s current pellet unit at Paradip in Odisha. Read more

 

Nifty futures

Traders should tread with caution as long as the contract moves sideways in the range between 10,385 and 10,425. Read more

 

Tech funds make a comeback

The steady rise in the Nifty IT index in the last quarter of calendar year 2017 and a strong gain of 11.3 per cent this January have brought technology-based funds back in focus again. Read more

 

'Bonds don't like fiscal indiscipline'

With remonetisation under way, growth and inflation have witnessed a rise from their recent lows while excess liquidity in the system has reduced. Benefits for bonds arising out of demonetisation have begun to ebb as a return to growth is often accompanied by rise in inflation. Read more

 

UTI Dynamic Bond Fund

UTI Dynamic Bond Fund has been a top quartile fund within its category over the long run, beating category returns by about one percentage points over three and five years. Since its inception in 2010, the fund has delivered an annual return of 9.16 per cent, across various rate cycles. Read more

 

 

Domestic shares edged lower in a volatile session with financial stocks continuing their downtrend, while fertiliser stocks gained after the continuation of a government subsidy for urea.

Banking shares were subdued with revelations of yet another fraud at Punjab National Bank compounding the already-gloomy sentiment on public-sector lenders.

Stock markets across Asia slipped broadly in tandem with Wall Street, which fell for a third session overnight after US President Donald Trump sought to impose fresh tariffs on China, intensifying fears of a trade war. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.45 per cent.

“Markets are struggling to find their foothold, and this sideways trend is expected to continue this month... There is also some sort of portfolio shuffling,” said Deven Choksey, founder, KR Choksey Investment Managers.

At 12.52 pm, the Sensex was down 55.19 points or 0.16 per cent at 33,780.55 and the Nifty down 16.45 points or 0.16 per cent at 10,394.45.

Banking stocks continued to drop, with YES Bank and ICICI Bank Ltd falling over 1 per cent each. Their public-sector peers followed with Punjab National Bank down 0.7 per cent, while Bank of Baroda fell 1.2 per cent and Union Bank of India traded 1.5 per cent lower.

Fertiliser stocks rose after the Union Government decided to continue a urea subsidy scheme till 2020 and implemented the direct benefit transfer scheme. National Fertilizers Ltd , Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers Ltd and Madras Fertilizers Ltd gained about 4-6 per cent.

Wipro Ltd rose as much as 2.8 percent after the company had said on Wednesday it would divest its hosted data centre services business to Ensono. - Reuters

Bullion cues

Support in the $1,310-$1,300 zone continues to hold well for the yellow metal. Global spot gold ($1,323 per ounce) bounced on Friday from its low of around $1,313. This keeps the broader $1,300-$1,370 sideways range intact. Read more

 

Silver futures

Silver prices traded higher by 0.12 per cent to Rs 38,827 per kg at the futures market as participants raised bets owing to positive cues from global markets. Read more

Gold futures

Gold prices edged higher by 0.11 per cent to Rs 30,438 per 10 grams at the futures trade as speculators raised bets amid a firm trend overseas. Read more

PNB detects another fraud

Punjab National Bank has detected another small fraud at a Mumbai branch which is at the centre of a $2-billion fraud. Read more

 

GDP growth target

Fitch has projected India’s economic growth to rise to 7.3 per cent next fiscal and further to 7.5 per cent in 2019-20. Read more

 

The Sensex fell nearly 100 points in the pre-noon trade due to continued selling by DIIs and foreign funds coupled with weak Asian cues. At 11.45 am, the Sensex was down 82.06 points or 0.24 per cent at 33,753.68 and the Nifty down 27.35 points or 0.26 per cent at 10,383.55.

 

Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas, banking, metal and PSU succumbed to selling pressure. On the other hand, healthcare, realty, consumer durables and power remained investors' favourite.

NSE sectoral indices

Top gainers, losers

Click here to view the full table

 

Oil prices remain steady

Crude oil prices hold steady on healthy global demand but capped by the relentless rise in US production. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 17 cents, or 0.3 per cent, to $61.13 a barrel by 0245 GMT. Brent crude futures were at $65 per barrel, up 11 cents, or 0.2 per cent. Read more

 

 

Dollar vs yen

The dollar fell against the yen and pulled further away from a recent two-week high, as lingering worries about global trade tensions weighed on investors' risk appetite. Read more

 

Midhani IPO

Mini-ratna speciality alloy maker Mishra Dhatu Nigam (Midhani) has launched a ₹ 438-crore initial public offer through which the government will offload 26 per cent of its holding. Read more

 

Rupee weakens to 64.92

The rupee was trading weak at 64.92 against the US dollar due to fresh demand for the greenback from importers and banks. Read more

 

Fertiliser stocks gain

Fertiliser stocks gained after the government had on Wednesday decided to continue with the urea subsidy scheme till 2020. Read more

 

Wipro shares up

Wipro shares jumped as the company will divest its hosted data centre services business to Ensono, an IT services provider, for $405 million. Read more

 

Asian shares

Stock markets slipped broadly while government bonds attracted safe-haven demand amid mounting investor concerns that growing trade tensions would hurt the global economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.45 per cent. Read more

 

The Sensex and Nifty were trading marginally down due to selling by domestic institutional investors and foreign funds and weak Asian cues.  At 10 am, the Sensex was down 23.82 points or 0.07 per cent at 33,811.92 and the Nifty down 10.65 points or 0.1 per cent at 10,400.25.

Sensex gainers, losers

Volume toppers

Nifty gainers

Nifty losers

 

US stocks

US stocks fell on Wednesday after President Donald Trump sought to impose fresh tariffs on China, intensifying fears of a trade war that could raise costs and hurt overseas sales for US companies. Read more

 

HAL public issue

Hindustan Aeronautics plans to raise ₹4,200 crore from its initial public offering that opens for subscription on March 16. Read more

 

NSE fines Gitanjali Gems

Gitanjali Gems has been fined by the NSE for failure to file financial results for the quarter ended December, 2017.  Read more

 

Day Trading Guide

Supports and resistances for Nifty 50 futures and seven key stocks are given below that can help in your intra-day trading:

₹1865 HDFC Bank

Fresh long positions can be initiated with a tight stop-loss if the stock reverses higher from ₹1853 levels.

₹1180 Infosys

As long as the stock trades above ₹1170, the near-term view stays positive. Buy in declines with a fixed stop-loss.

₹267 ITC

Consider initiating fresh long positions with a stiff stop-loss only if the stock of ITC climbs above ₹270 levels. Click here to view the full table

 

Today's stock pick

Investors with a short-term horizon can buy the stock of KPIT Technologies at current levels. Read more

 

The benchmark BSE Sensex opened lower by 19.09 points or 0.06 per cent at 33,816.65 and the Nifty50 down 9.2 points or 0.09 per cent at 10,401.70.

Stock in focus

Himadri Speciality Chemical is likely to benefit from the government’s anti-dumping duty on Chinese imports of Sulphonated Naphthalene Formaldehyde, a chemical used in the construction and dyes industry. Read more

 

What to watch

Sunil Hitech Engineers may come under pressure, as the Enforcement Directorate has attached deposits worth ₹25.44 crore of the company in the coal block allotment case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. Read more

What to watch

Larsen & Toubro has won contracts worth ₹1,600 crore across various segments. Read more