Sensex ends lower as financials, FMCG stocks weigh

Closing Bell

Shares settled lower, led by a fall in financial and consumer stocks with Yes Bank Ltd closing at its lowest in over six years.

The broader NSE index closed 0.33 per cent or 36.90 points lower at 11,017, while the benchmark BSE index finished down 0.20 per cent or 74.48 points at 37,328.01.

The Nifty PSU index finished the day 2.35 per cent lower, with State Bank of India settling down over 1 per cent. Among consumer stocks, Britannia Industries Ltd lost 3.24 per cent to its lowest since February 2018, while ITC Ltd settled 1.87 per cent lower.

IT stocks held onto gains and closed 1.2 per cent higher as the rupee weakened to its lowest since February. - Reuters

European stocks

The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.1 per cent.

European shares rose for the third straight session on Tuesday, building on a recovery since late last week as British drugmaker AstraZeneca gained on positive data from a late-stage study. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was up 0.2 per cent by 0801 GMT, with London's FTSE 100 outperforming. European markets have staged a comeback in the last two sessions. Read more on the European stock markets here

Jubilant Life Sciences poised at long-term base

The Sister Innovation Hub will provide a soft landing pad for Indian start-ups and innovators in the life sciences and biotech domains

The stock of Jubilant Life Sciences has been in a medium-term downtrend since encountering a key resistance at around ₹900 this March. The stock is currently poised above this long-term support band.

The weekly relative strength index and the price rate of change indicators display positive divergence, which implies trend reversal on the cards. With the stock hovering at a key long-term support and the indicators projecting a trend reversal, a short-term rally is possible in the stock now. Should you buy the stock of Jubilant Life Sciences, find out here

SBI announces slew of festive offers

State Bank of India announced bouquet of special offerings in this festive season for retail banking customers. Customers can avail attractive and cheaper loans with added benefits –waiver in processing fees, pre-approved digital loans and loans with no escalation in interest rates – spread across various categories. Click here to know more on the various offers announced by State Bank of India

But how sweet are SBI’s home loan and other deals?

Sterling and Wilson market debut

Shares of Sterling and Wilson Solar made a disappointing debut on the bourses on Tuesday, falling more than 10 per cent over its issue price of ₹780. The scrip opened the day at ₹700, with a discount of 10.25 per cent over its issue price on the BSE. At the NSE, shares got listed at ₹706, down 9.48 per cent from the issue price.

Mahindra Finance to pick up stake in Sri Lanka's Ideal Finance

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Ltd. signage is displayed outside one of the company's branches in Mumbai

Mahindra Finance will invest LKR 2 billion until March 2021 for up to 58.2 per cent stake in Ideal Finance. Mahindra Finance has been looking at expanding its market overseas as part of its global growth strategy. With this joint venture Mahindra Finance aims to replicate in Sri Lanka, its successful, socially inclusive business model. Click here to read more on the joint venture between Mahindra Finance and Sri Lanka's Ideal Finance

The stock of Mahindra Finance were trading 1.02 per cent lower at Rs 314.55.

Sensex bounces back

The 30-share BSE index Sensex pared the early losses and entered the positive territory. The BSE index is trading marginally higher at 37,414.58, up 12.09 points or 0.03 per cent. However, the 50-share NSE index Nifty was trading lower by 7.85 points or 0.07 per cent at 11,046.05.

The IT and auto stocks lent support to Sensex and the bank and financials stocks dragging the index lower.

The top gainers in the Sensex pack were Maruti, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra while the major losers were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, ITC, State Bank of India, and Axis Bank.

In the broader index, the stocks leading the positive zone were Maruti, HCL Technologies, Tata Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra and Infosys while the laggards were Yes Bank, IBUL Housing Finance, Britannia, UltraTech Cement and IndusInd Bank

Why Yes Bank, CG Power stocks crashed today

Share price of Gautam Thapar-promoted CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd was down 20 per cent in the afternoon trade after the company disclosed certain suspect transactions. Shares of Yes Bank also dipped by over 6 per cent due to the bank’s exposure in the company. Yes Bank owns nearly 13 per cent stake in CG Power. Here's more on Yes Bank and CG Power stocks and the alleged suspect transactions

Gold price rally

The current week leading up to Janmashtami over the weekends, will see gold prices oscillate between a range of current levels with a short-term outlook for sideways to negative bias. CME Gold for August delivery fell by about $ 3 in Tuesday early session to trade at $ 1497.5 an oz.

Analysts see a harmonic pattern getting created leading to a corrective drop in the prices in short term. Click here to read more on the gold price rally

UltraTech Cement breaks support

Shares of  UltraTech Cement Ltd  has fallen as much as 2.55 per cent to ₹4,052, its lowest since April 4. The stock breaks below a support at ₹4,118.7, the 50 per cent Fibonacci retracement level on the uptrend from Jan 28 low to May 27 high.

Last week, the stock broke below its 200-day exponential moving average, seen as a bearish sign. Read more on the stock activity of UltraTech Cement here

Nifty Call

The market breadth of the Nifty index is biased towards declines. The India VIX is hovering flat in the positive area at around 16.8 levels. Both the Nifty mid and small-cap indices have slumped over 1 per cent. The Nifty August month contract started the session on a flat note, opening at 11,059. It marked an intra-day high at 11,078 and began to decline on the back of selling pressure. Read our Nifty Call for August futures here

IT stocks

file photo

Shares of IT services firms rise as the Indian rupee weakens to lowest since February 7. Nifty IT index rises as much as 1.79 per cent, sees best session since August 8. Infosys, Wipro and TCS among top three gainers on the NSE index. More on the stock activity of IT index, read here

Morgan Stanley re-rates Reliance stock

Morgan Stanley has re-rated the stock of Reliance Industries Ltd from ‘equal weight’ to ‘over-weight’ after its promoter Mukesh Ambani announced major decisions at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held last week. RIL’s faster asset monetisation, together with the rebalancing of oil refining market and cheaper feedstock, could help drive up the company’s price-to-earnings (PE) ratio, Morgan Stanley said in the report.

The stock of Reliance Industries were trading 1.17 per cent lower at Rs 1,277.

Sterlings & Wilson listing

Shares of Sterling & Wilson Solar is listed on the exchanges. On debut, the share of Sterling & Wilson was trading 3.86 per cent higher at Rs 727.

Shapoorji Pallonji-owned Sterling & Wilson Solar had received lukewarm response to its initial public offering. The company managed to garner only 92 per cent subscription.

The total issue size was ₹3,125 crore, of which around ₹1,400 crore was raised from anchor investors. The price band for the issue was between ₹775 and ₹780 a share. While the qualified institutional buyer received full subscription, the high net worth individual portion was subscribed 89 per cent and retail investor portion by 30 per cent.

Indices remain in red

The 30-share BSE Index Sensex slumped 151.68 points or 0.41 per cent to 37,250.81 while the broader index Nifty falls below the 11,000 mark. The index is currently trading 62.40 points or 0.56 per cent lower at 10,991.50.

The bank and financial stocks drag the indices lower.

The top gainers in the Sensex pack were Infosys, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Hero MotoCorp and Hindustan Unilever while the scrips in red were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma and ITC.

In the 50-share index, the top scrips lending support were Infosys, Maruti, HCL Technologies, Wipro and Hero MotoCorp while the laggards were Yes bank, IBUL Housing Finance, Britannia, IndusInd Bank and UltraTech Cement

Vodafone Idea falls

Shares of  Vodafone Idea Ltd  fell as much as 6.7 per cent to ₹5.6. As of last close, stock down 74 per cent this year.

Gold and precious metals

Spot gold may test a support at $1,483 per ounce. File Photo

Gold prices were flat, after declining more than 1 per cent in the previous session hit by an uptick in risk appetite, while investors awaited meetings by policy-makers later in the week for clues on possible interest rate cuts.

Spot gold was stable at $1,495.21 per ounce at 0438 GMT. On Monday, gold skidded 1.2 per cent below the key level of $1,500, marking its biggest daily decline since July 19. US gold futures fell 0.4 per cent to $1,505.20 an ounce. More on the prices of precious metals and bullion market, read here

NSE admits 14 BST-listed stocks

NSE has admitted 14 BST-listed stocks for trading in the cash segment on Monday.

They are SpiceJet, Force Motors, Westlife Development, BC Power Controls, Jiya Eco-Products, Vishal Fabrics, Kennametal India, Jump Networks, Shree Digvijay Cements, Dolat Investments, Waterbase, Vikas Proppant & Granite, Vikas WSP and Hindustan Foods.

Most of these stocks gained in the range of one per cent to 16 per cent, as traders expect NSE listing will enhance liquidity. Force Motors, Dolat and Jiya Eco gained the most while BC Power, Vikas Proppant and Westlife closed in the red.

DHFL falls

Shares of troubled mortgage lender Dewan Housing Finance Corp Ltd (DHFL) are down 7 per cent at ₹45.6. DHFL has been unable to fulfil its obligations towards debt repayment in the recent past. As of last close, stock down 80.3 per cent this year. More on the stock activity of DHFL, read here

Sensex, Nifty in red as investors cautious over corporate tax rate cut

The shares were volatile, after gains in IT stocks were largely offset by declines in financial stocks, as cautious investors awaited more details on reports of a corporate tax rate cut by the government before making fresh bets.

The broader NSE index gave up early gains to fall 0.25 per cent or 27.65 points to 11,026.25, while the benchmark BSE index was down 0.15 per cent or 55.11 points at 37,347.38.

Meanwhile, broader Asian shares climbed higher, reflecting gains seen in US stocks on Monday, as hopes of more stimulus measures from China and Germany eased jitters of an impending global recession.

In India, investors awaited more details on some media reports suggesting that a task force set up to overhaul the 58-year old Income Tax Act recommended an across-the-board 25 per cent tax rate for both local and foreign companies.

Read more: C orporate tax for firms with over Rs 400 cr turnover to be cut gradually

“We've not seen concrete steps by the government yet about (corporate tax) rate cut and other reforms, but some fears of a recession have faded,” said Anand James, chief market strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “It is safe to say that there might be small shift in sentiment.”

The Nifty PSU bank index, tracking state-owned banks, shed 1.5 per cent, with State Bank of India falling about 1.08 per cent.

Shares of Vodafone Idea Ltd fell as much as 6.67 per cent. On Monday, the telecom operator said Ravinder Takkar would replace Balesh Sharma as its chief executive officer.

Markets have been facing rough winds in the recent months, with the NSE index falling about 8 per cent since a record high in June, amid slowing economic growth, a massive slowdown in the automobile industry and poorly received budget proposals. “Until we get clarity on what is happening with global and local growth, markets will have some sort of downward bias,” said Sunil Sharma, chief investment officer, Sanctum Wealth Management in Mumbai.

Meanwhile, IT stocks were trading in positive territory with the Nifty IT index rising up as much as 1.78 per cent. IT services provider Infosys Ltd was the top gainer on the NSE index, rising as much as 2.3 per cent, while shares of industry peer Wipro Ltd gained as much as 1.25 per cent. - Reuters

Commodities market

Crude oil prices slipped

Crude oil prices slipped, but losses were limited as equity markets rallied and as traders hoped Sino-US trade tensions would ease. Brent crude had slipped 3 cents, or 0.05 per cent, to $59.71 a barrel by 0147 GMT, after rising 1.88 per cent on Monday. US crude was down 15 cents, or 0.3 per cent, at $56.06 a barrel, after gaining 2.44 per cent in the previous session.

OPEC cut its forecast for global oil demand growth in 2019 by 40,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 1.10 million bpd and indicated the market would be in slight surplus in 2020. Click here to read more on the commodities market

Rupee market

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.56.

The rupee opened on a weak note and fell 23 paise to 71.66 against the US dollar in early trade amid rising crude oil prices and unabated foreign fund outflows. Forex traders said investors are awaiting government intervention to revive the slowing economy. At the Interbank Foreign Exchange, the rupee opened weak at 71.56 then fell to 71.66 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 23 paise over its previous closing. Read the local currency market report here

Sensex, Nifty in red

Domestic equity benchmark BSE Sensex slips over 100 points led by loss in bank and financial stocks.

The 30-share was trading 100.15 points or 0.27 per cent lower at 37,302.34 and the broader Nifty too lost 42.75 points or 0.39 per cent to 11,011.15 in morning trade.

In the previous session on Monday, the 30-share Sensex settled 52.16 points, or 0.14 per cent, higher at 37,402.49, and the NSE Nifty edged 6.10 points, or 0.06 per cent, up at 11,053.90.

Top gainers in the Sensex pack included TCS, Infosys, Hero MotoCorp, TechM, HCL Tech and PowerGrid, rising up to 2 per cent. While, Yes Bank, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma rose up to 4.50 per cent.

According to traders, domestic equities followed global stocks which rallied on expectations of stimulus measures from German and Chinese governments. Investors are also hoping for dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, US, later this week.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hang Seng, Shanghai Composite Index, Nikkei and Kospi were trading in the green in their respective late morning sessions. Bourses on Wall Street ended significantly higher on Monday.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net of Rs 305.74 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 386.23 crore, provisional data showed.

On the currency front, the rupee depreciated 18 paise versus the dollar against its previous close to trade at 71.62 in early session. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.07 per cent to 59.78 per barrel. - PTI

Global markets

An investor walks past a screen displaying stock information at a brokerage house in Shanghai, China.

Asian shares extended their gains as hopes for stimulus in major economies tempered anxiety about a global recession, boosting riskier assets and drawing money from safe-havens such as bonds and gold.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.31 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.45 per cent. Shares in China and Hong Kong opened lower and swung in and out of negative territory. Read more on the global stock markets report

Choppy trade

After jumping 100 points in the early trade, the 30-share BSE index Sensex trades marginally higher at 37,407.12, up 4.63 points or 0.01 per cent. Meanwhile, the broader index Nifty is trading lower at 11,041.70, down 12.20 points or 0.11 per cent after opening flat.

The industry heavyweights Infosys, TCS and HDFC Bank cushion the BSE index. The top gainers in the Sensex pack are Infosys, TCS, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and Hero Motocorp while the laggards are Yes Bank, Bajaj Finance, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma.

In the NSE index, the stocks lending support were Infosys, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Hero MotoCorp, and Dr Reddy's while the scrips in red were Yes Bank, IBUL Housing Finance, Ultra Cement, Britannia and IndusInd Bank

Stocks in focus

Shares of Hindalco may remain in focus as Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has increased its stake in the company. In a notice to bourses, Hindalco said LIC has acquired 4.65 crore shares of the company through open market transactions between May 5, 2017 and August 14, 2019. Following the acquisition, LIC's stake in Hindalco increased to 10.39 per cent from 8.32 per cent. At the end of June, LIC had a stake of 9.26 per cent in Hindalco, exchanges data show.

Hitech Corporation on Monday informed the bourses that manufacturing operations at its Baddi unit in Himachal Pradesh have been disrupted since August 18 due to floods caused by the heavy rain in the region. The company is in the process of ascertaining the damage/loss and will take necessary steps to resume the operations at the earliest, it said, adding that it has insurance to cover the damage caused by floods. The stock of Hitechwill be under close monitoring by investors.

KEC International , a global infrastructure EPC firm, has secured orders worth ₹845 crore from the railway infrastructure sector. Itcomprises ₹580 crore from the Regional Rapid Transit System and ₹265 crorefrom the Metro segment. The RPG group company’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Vimal Kejriwal said the orders mark KEC International’s entry into the urban transport sector and expands its client portfolio. This foray will also help build a robust executable order book, he added.

Opening bell

The 30-share BSE index Sensex opened 39.26 points higher at 37,441.75 against the previous close of 37,402.49. However, the 50-share NSE index opened flat at 11,053.65 and slipped to red.

Today's Pick

We recommend a buy in the stock of Suven Life Sciences at the current levels of Rs 244.8. The stock gained 4.7 per cent accompanied by above average volume on Monday, breaching a key resistance at ₹235 as well as the 21-day moving average.

With the on-going rally, the stock’s short-term downtrend that had been in place in the past two months had come to an end. Traders with a short-term view can buy the stock with a stop-loss at ₹239. Click here to read the stock activity of Suven Life Sciences here

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