Closing bell: Equity indices fell over one per cent on Wednesday, tracking broader Asia as investors braced for prospects of prolonged political uncertainty in the United States after the launch of a formal impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

Compounding investors' fears, Trump's remarks at the United Nations Assembly on Tuesday accused China of currency manipulation, and intellectual property theft risked riling a tariff dispute that has embroiled global equities over the past year.

The broader NSE index ended down 1.28 per cent at 11,440.20, while the benchmark BSE index fell 1.29 per cent to 38,593.52.

Public sector banks and autos led the losses, with the Nifty PSU Bank Index shedding 5.63 per cent, while the Nifty Auto Index declined 3.90 per cent. Barring IT Index, all the sectoral indices ended in the red.

State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, dropped 7.70 per cent and was among the top decliners on the blue-chip NSE index, while Motherson Sumi fell 7.18 per cent.

Among gainers, Power Grid Corp rose 3.83 per cent, while Tata Consultancy Services and NTPC, gained over one per cent each.

Nifty sectoral indices at 3.10 pm

Top NSE gainers/losers at 2.45 pm

Can the 'impeachment' of Donald Trump impact stock markets?

The formal impeachment inquiry into US President Donald Trump could hurt sentiments, as he has been a chief proponent for the stock market rally since his ascension to the White House.

This is of global significance as any sharp move in the US markets impacts the world. His policies have led to trade tensions between many countries including China, Japan and those of the European Union (EU). Read more

IRCTC IPO to open on September 30

IRCTC, the ₹1,900-crore tourism and catering wing of Indian Railways, will soon raise funds from the market through an initial public offering (IPO) on September 30.

The IRCTC portal, which has front-ended many technology firsts - from online train ticket booking, to providing online booking of catering services, waiting rooms of railway stations to booking air tickets – has been compared favourably with e-commerce biggies for the sheer number of people who use it online. Read more here

Essar Power proposes new debt restructuring plan for Mahan project

In a bid to retain control of the 1200 MW Mahan Power project in Madhya Pradesh, Essar Power has submitted a fresh debt resolution proposal to the banks. This includes an upfront cash payment of 70 per cent and the balance will be a mix of debt and equity.

This is part of their effort to bring down overall debt, by reducing its power business debt. Currently, Essar Power has a debt of Rs 20,000 crore. Read more here

As per Bloomberg report Spicejet is planning to come out with initial public offer for its logistics business Spicexpress.

SAMHI Hotels files draft papers for IPO

SAMHI Hotels Ltd has filed its draft papers with markets regulator Sebi to float initial public offer. The initial public offer (IPO) comprises a fresh issue of Rs 1,100 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of 1,91,45,624 equity shares, as per the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP).

According to market sources, the total issue size will be between Rs 1,800 -2,000 crore.

Net proceeds of the fresh issue will be utilised towards repayment /prepayment of certain indebtedness by the company and its subsidiaries besides for general corporate purposes, it added.

Kaveri Seeds scrip jumps on Rs 196-cr buyback proposal

The shares of  Kaveri Seeds  have jumped by 3.33 per cent to trade at ₹565.65 before noon on Wednesday, after the company’s said that its Board of Directors have approved a share buyback.

On Tuesday, the company’s board considered and approved the proposal for buyback of fully paid-up equity shares of face value of ₹2 each, not exceeding 28 lakh, representing 4.44 per cent of the total number of shares in the paid-up equity share capital. Read the full report here

Nifty call: Sell at 11,500-level with stop loss at 11,560

The Nifty 50 index of India opened lower and declined from the beginning of the session. Both the benchmark indices - Nifty 50 and the Sensex are down by 1 per cent in today’s session.

Equity indices across Asia are on a decline where Nikkei has weakened by 0.4 per cent, and Hang Seng has lost 1.24 per cent. Read more on the technical call here

Auto shares in the red; Bosch down 4.64%

The Nifty Auto index was trading 3.14 per cent lower at 7,528.80 at noon.

Shares of Bosch (down 4.64 per cent), TVS Motor (down 4.44 per cent), Tata Motors (down 4.13 per cent) and Ashok Leyland (down 4.06 per cent) were trading lower.

M&M (down 3.99 per cent), Eicher Motors (down 3.73 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (down 3.20 per cent) and Maruti Suzuki (down 3.27 per cent) too were trading with loss.

Benchmark NSE Nifty50 index is down 104.80 points at 11,483.40 while the BSE Sensex is trading weaker 364.49 points at 38,732.65.

Among the 50 stocks in the Nifty index, 39 were trading in the red, while 11 were in the green.

Is it fair for mutual funds to give more time to Zee for repayment?

Governance issues are being raised at mutual funds for offering a second extension to Zee Entertainment promoters for repaying their debt to mutual funds.

While the extension to the deadline comes as a relief to Zee promoters, could it impact the mutual funds as a category overall? Experts think so.

"It is unfair for mutual funds to extend debt repayment deadline as this will impact the unitholders of these mutual funds," Shriram Subramanian, MD at proxy advisory firm InGovern, told BusinessLine. Click here to read the insight

Markets update: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex sank over 300 points in early session on Wednesday, dragged by losses in banking, IT and auto stocks amid negative global cues and foreign fund outflow.

At 11.10 am, the 30-share index was trading 386.1 points, or 0.99 per cent, lower at 38,710.73, while the broader Nifty fell 106.60 points, or 0.92 per cent, to 11,481.60.

Top laggards in the Sensex pack in early trade included Tata Motors, SBI, HDFC twins, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, Maruti, Infosys, ITC and ICICI Bank, shedding up to 3 per cent.

On the other hand, PowerGrid, RIL, NTPC, TCS, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Bharti Airtel rose up to 2 per cent.

According to traders, domestic equities opened on a weak note tracking negative news from global markets.

Financial services firms could be biggest beneficiary from corporate tax cut

Financial services sector could potentially be the biggest beneficiary of the recent reduction in corporate tax rates, according to a new study by CARE Ratings.

The study is based on 2,377 companies from the aggregate sample of 3,170 companies which had positive profit before tax. The cumulative earningsprofits before tax were about ₹8.84 lakh crore in 2018-19. Total tax paid by these firms was ₹2.37 lakh crore last fiscal with an effective tax rate of 27.5 per cent.

“If these companies had paid tax at 25.17 per cent, the industry would see a savings of ₹41,555 crore,” CARE Ratings said in the report released on Wednesday. Read the full story here

Tax cut impact: In a first, Maruti Suzuki lowers prices of select models

Country's largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has become the first company to pass on the government's recent announcement of lowering taxes, to its customers.

Welcoming the government’s initiative to revive the demand in the automobile industry, MSIL is proactively and voluntarily sharing the benefits of corporate tax reduction with its customers and has decided to reduce the price of select models by Rs 5,000 (on ex-showroom price). Click here to read the details

Broker's call: Petronet LNG (Buy)

Petronet LNG (PLNG) arranged a conference call to allay investor concerns about the recently signed MoU with Tellurian, US. PLNG signed a non-binding agreement with Tellurian in the US on September 21, which envisages an LNG purchase contract of up to 5 mmt. Read more here

SEBI raps mutual funds for doing business with suspended distributors

Capital market regulator SEBI has hauled up mutual funds for getting new business and distributing the commission to suspended distributors breaching the Association of Mutual Funds (AMFI) best practice guidelines.

During the course of inspection of mutual funds, SEBI has taken an adverse view on instances where asset management companies had continued to accept business from distributors who were suspended by AMFI and failed to ensure that no commission is paid to such distributors during the period of suspension, said a source.

Sluggish economy results in muted power demand in August

Power demand in India declined by 1 per cent on a yearly basis due to weakness in the economy.

According to a report from Kotak Institutional Equities, the decline in energy demand was across all regions in August 2019, except Northern India. Power demand in north India grew 1 per cent on a year-on-year basis. Further, renewable power generation was 15.6 BU in July, a decline of 1 per cent yearly. Read more here

Essel group gets extension to repay Zee’s debt

Essel Group on Wednesday announced and confirmed that its lenders have unanimously agreed to extend the timeline, enabling the Group to optimize the value output from the sale of its assets.

Businessline on Tuesday had reported that Kotak Mutual Fund and SBI Mutual fund had offloaded their pledged shares, bringing down the promoter debt to ₹ 4,000 crore from ₹ 5,500 crore that their promoters had to pay.

"As per the official communication issued on September, 20 2019, the Group was in a steady and progressive dialogue with all the lenders. The mentioned extension of the timeline was requested purely in the interest deriving the true value of the precious assets of the group.

Markets opening: The equity indices Sensex and Nifty opened on a flat note on Wednesday tracking Asian markets.

At 09.16 am, the Sensex is down 185.93 points or 0.48 per cent at 38,911.21, and the Nifty down 49.95 points or 0.43 per cent at 11,538.25.

Today's Pick - Suven Life Sciences (₹294.2): Buy

Investors with a short-term perspective can buy the stock of Suven Life Sciences at current levels. The stock has been in a medium-term uptrend since taking support at around ₹218 in early August this year.

While trending up it had decisively breached the 200-day moving average as well as a key resistance at ₹250 in late August and continued to trend upwards. Short-term trend is also up for the stock. It hovers well above the 50- and 200-day moving averages. Read more on the technical call here

Oil falls after Trump's comments douse trade talk optimism

Oil prices fell for a second day on Wednesday on worries about falling fuel demand after US President Donald Trump's comments doused optimism over China-US trade talks and reignited concerns on global economic growth. Read more about this here

Stocks rattles as impeachment inquiry of Trump raises new risks

Asian stocks fell on Wednesday after US lawmakers called for an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, increasing the prospects of prolonged political uncertainty in the world's largest economy.

The dramatic move by House of Representatives Democrats compounded investors' anxieties with confidence already shaken by new worries about US-China trade negotiations.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.82per cent, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.63per cent, while Australian shares fell 0.60per cent.

Chinese shares slumped and oil futures extended declines after Trump harshly criticised Beijing's trade practices in a speech at the United Nations, damping hopes for a resolution to the US-China trade war. Read more here

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