Markets Live: Sensex falls 330 points after Moody's cuts India's outlook

Closing bell

The benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, closed sharply lower on Friday, losing nearly 1 per cent at the close of a choppy session.

The Sensex finished at 40,323, down 330 points or 0.81 per cent lower. The Nifty closed at 11,908, down 103 points or 0.86 per cent lower on its previous close.

The top gainers on the Sensex were the banking stocks, namely, YES Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank and Kotak Bank. YES Bank and IndusInd Bank registered gains of over 3 per cent in the session.

The laggards were led by Sun Pharma, which dropped over 4 per cent, followed by Vedanta (down 3.39 per cent), ONGC (2.64 per cent), TCS (2.54 per cent) and Hindustan Unilever (2.41 per cent).

According to an agency report, the Sensex tumbled 330 points, tracking losses in IT, FMCG, metal and energy stocks after Moody’s cut India’s credit rating outlook citing growth concerns.

Despite trading on a weak note through the day, the 30-share Sensex briefly turned positive to hit a fresh intra-day high of 40,749.33. It, however, pared all gains to end 330.13 points lower. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty ended down 103.90 points , or 0.86 per cent.

Moody’s Investors Service cut country’s credit rating outlook to negative -- the first step towards a downgrade, saying the government has been partly ineffective in addressing economic weakness, leading to rising risks that growth will remain lower.

Following the news, domestic equities turned volatile and retreated from record peaks. The Indian rupee also depreciated 33 paise to 71.30 against the US dollar intra-day.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul settled on a negative note, while Tokyo ended in the green.

Exchanges in Europe too were trading lower in their respective early deals.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.24 per cent to USD 61.53 per barrel.

European shares dip as trade-fuelled rally loses steam

The pan-European STOXX 600 was little changed, with bourses in Germany, Spain and Italy rising about 0.2 per cent. File Photo

European shares opened lower on Friday, halting a week-long rally after mixed signals on US-China trade left investors uncertain on whether the two sides were really getting close to signing a deal.

Miners, among the most exposed to the trade conflict and its implications on global growth, dropped by 1.6 per cent and were on track for their worst day in a month, pulling the pan-European STOXX 600 index 0.4 per cent lower.

A bullish few weeks for the world's major stock markets, buoyed by an earnings season that has proved less weak than expected, still has the index on course to log its fifth straight weekly gain. Click here to read in full the European markets report .

MSCI adds 8 stocks to its MSCI India Domestic Index

MSCI, the world’s biggest index compiler, has added eight Indian stocks including HDFC Asset Management, Info Edge (India) and Indraprastha Gas Ltd to its India Index, while removing Vodafone Idea, Yes Bank and four others that have seen significant market capitalisation erosion this year.

It has added eight companies and deleted six from the MSCI India Domestic Index. Those deleted include Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Indiabulls Housing Finance, L&T Finance Holdings, Vodafone-Idea Ltd and Yes Bank, MSCI said in a statement. Click here to read more on stocks added to MSCI domestic index .

Post-listing, who are the public shareholders of IRCTC?

A view inside a coach of the newly launched Lucknow-Delhi Tejas Express, India's first ‘private’ train by IRCTC at the Charbagh Railway station in Lucknow on Friday

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the online ticketing, tourism and catering arm of Indian Railways, has made waves, both at pre-listing and post-listing trading sessions in the market.

The public issue from the PSU major had received overwhelming response from all categories of investors. The IPO saw applications for a massive 112 times, which none of the previous public issues from the public sector stable ever achieved. The retail category was subscribed nearly 15 times while the qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) segment was subscribed 109 times, and non-institutional investors (NIIs) category 355 times. Click here to read more on the IRCTC share price .

Three years after note ban, UPI sees more than Rs 20-lakh cr transactions

Smartphone users in India transacted more than ₹20.82-lakh crore on their mobile devices using the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) platform of the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) since demonetisation in November 2016. With this, the number of transactions crossed 1,239.75 crore during this period. Click here to read more on UPI transactions .

The top gainers and losers in the Sensex pack

Sensex, Nifty reverse morning losses

The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty reversed their morning losses to trade flat in the afternoon session on Friday.

The Sensex was trading at 40,631, down 22 points or 0.05 per cent, while the Nifty was at 11,998, down 13 points or 0.11 per cent softer.

The top gainers on the Sensex were YES Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, M&M and Tata Motors, while the laggards were Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, ITC, TCS and Asian Paints.

Banking and automobile shares were up nearly 1 per cent in the afternoon session. Pharmaceuticals were down over 2 per cent, followed by FMCG and tobacco products that were down between 1.75-2 per cent.

Nifty call: Buy on dips with a tight stop-loss

The Nifty, after closing above the critical level of 12,000 yesterday, opened lower today and declined during the initial hours. The Asian indices are giving out mixed signals, with the Nikkei closing marginally higher, and the Hang Seng down by one per cent today. The US benchmarks closed slightly higher on hopes of a trade deal. Click here to read the Nifty call report .

Nifty futures trading declines on Singapore exchange

Trading volumes in the Nifty futures index on SGX, the Singapore exchange, have witnessed a fall. But there has been a 61 per cent surge in the Nifty index options on SGX.

SGX statistics show that Nifty futures volumes declined by 21 per cent on a year-on-year basis up to October. In August, 21.10 lakh futures contracts of the Nifty index were traded on the SGX; this has declined to over 19.67 lakh. Nifty options trading was down by 28 per cent on a year-on-year basis up to October. But, there was a 61 per cent surge in the Nifty index options on a year-on-year basis up to October. Click here to read more on Nifty futures trading on the SGX .

Moody’s downgrades India’s outlook to ‘negative'

Global rating agency Moody’s has announced changing the outlook on India’s economy to ‘Negative’ from ‘Stable.’ However, it has affirmed the sovereign rating of ‘Baa2.’

The change in outlook means that an upgrade in ratings in near future is unlikely. Click here to read more on Moody's downgrades India's outlook to negative

China, US agree to a tariff rollback if phase one trade deal is completed

China and the United States have agreed to roll back tariffs on each others' goods in a “Phase-1” trade deal if it is completed, officials from both sides said on Thursday, sparking division among some advisers to President Donald Trump. Click here to read more on China, US tariff rollback .

Sensex, Nifty extend losses

The Sensex and Nifty extended their losses in the mid-morning session on Friday. The Sensex was at 40,516, down 136 points or 0.34 per cent, while the Nifty was at 11,963, down 48 points or 0.41 per cent.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank, which rose 2.35 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, up 2.18 per cent, M&M (1.83 per cent), YES Bank (1.73 per cent) and Kotak Bank (0.69 per cent).

The laggards were Sun Pharma (2.85 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (1.94 per cent), ITC (1.84 per cent), Tata Steel (1.56 per cent) and Asian Paints (1.38 per cent).

According to an agency report, the Sensex dropped over 100 points and the NSE Nifty slipped below the 12,000 mark after Moody’s Investors Service lowered India’s credit rating outlook, citing concerns over the country’s economic growth.

The rupee also depreciated 30 paise against the US dollar to trade at 71.27 in early session.

In the previous session, the 30-share Sensex ended 183.96 points, or 0.45 per cent up at its new all-time high of 40,653.74. Similarly, the Nifty ended with a gain of 46 points, or 0.38 per cent, at 12,012.05.

Foreign institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 926.60 crore in the capital market on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 635.59 crore, data available with stock exchange showed.

Despite positive cues from global markets and sustained foreign fund inflow, domestic equities turned negative after Moody’s Investors Service lowered the outlook on India’s credit ratings, traders said.

The agency has changed the outlook on India’s ratings to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’, saying there was increasing risks that economic growth will remain materially lower than the past.

While the government’s recent measures to support the economy should help to reduce the depth and duration of India’s growth slowdown, prolonged financial stress among rural households, weak job creation, and, more recently, a credit crunch among non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs), have increased the probability of a more entrenched slowdown, it said.

Globally, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul started on a positive note after China hinted at a removal of tariffs in the long-running trade war with the US.

Shares on Wall Street too ended on a positive note on Thursday.

Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped 0.16 per cent to $62.19 per barrel. - Reuters

Over 3.4 lakh Kotak Bank shares change hands in a block deal

A block deal was reported by Kotak Mahindra Bank on Friday on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). More than 3.40 lakh shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank were picked up by a buyer at Rs 1,576.75 in the morning trade.

The share price of Kotak Mahindra Bank jumped by 0.8 per cent to touch a intra-day high of Rs 1,601. In October Kotak Bank reported that it has witnessed a 51 per cent jump in its net profit on a year on year basis during the September quarter to Rs 1,724 crore.  

Trent Q2 net profit dips to Rs 17.27 cr

A Westside Store in Mumbai.

Tata Group company, Trent , has reported a lower net profit of Rs 17.27 crore in Q2 of FY20 against Rs 21.14 crore reported in Q2 of FY19. Its expenses for the said quarter rose to Rs 848 crore from Rs 604 crore the previous corresponding quarter. Revenue also went up to Rs 898 crore from Rs 653 crore in the period under review.

The company, which announched its results on Thursday, has brands such as Westside, Star, Landmark, and Zudio. Trent’s sales from the Westside format increased by 23 per cent for the six months ended September 30, 2019, as compared to the corresponding previous period. Click here to read in full the Trent results report .

Negative bias in rupee due to strong dollar

istock.com/Kritchanut

On Thursday, the rupee (INR) opened below the support at 71 against the dollar (USD) and marked a three-week low of 71.11, before closing at 70.96.

This means, the rupee has not breached the support on closing basis, but the price action clearly indicates weakness. The exchange rate of USDINR, by registering a five-week high and a three-week low in a span of one week, implies higher volatility and increasing chances of it moving out of the range between 70.75 and 71. Click here to read in full the Daily Rupee Call.

Dollar holds gains on progress in US-China trade talks

file photo

The dollar held on to its gains versus the yen and the Swiss franc on Friday as a China-US agreement to roll back tariffs on each others' goods supported riskier assets, even as some reports suggest a preliminary trade pact is far from a done deal. Click here to read in full the dollar report .

Oil drops on doubts US-China trade deal will be signed soon, rising US stockpiles

US crude oil futures fell on Friday amid fading hopes that a deal to end the lingering trade war between Washington and Beijing would be signed any time soon, the gloom compounded by rising crude inventories in the United States. Click here to read in full the oil markets report .

World stocks close in on record highs on US-China trade deal hopes

World stocks rallied to near record highs on Friday after China said it had agreed with the United States to cancel tariffs in phases, a key demand of Beijing for sealing a deal to end a trade war that has slowed economic growth and roiled markets. Click here to read the Asian markets report in full .

Opening bell

The benchmark indices, the BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty, were down in the opening session on Friday.

The Sensex dropped 115 points or 0.28 per cent to 40,538, while the Nifty was at 11,969, down 42 points or 0.35 per cent.

What to watch: Raymond: Focus on corporate revamp

The board of Raymond on Thursday approved a composite scheme of arrangement involving Raymond Apparel Ltd (RAL) and Scissors Engineering Products Ltd (SEPL). The scheme envisages the amalgamation of RAL and SEPL with Raymond Ltd; demerger of the lifestyle business undertaking of Raymond Ltd into a new company on a going concern basis; and cancellation and reduction of existing share capital of Raymond. Shareholders will closely monitor further development.

BoB, Ashok Leyland, IDFC results today

Around 120 firms including Ashok Leyland, Akzo Nobel, Allahabad Bank, Allcargo, BoB, Bharat Forge, Chambal Fertilizers, Capacite Infra, Crisil, Dredging Corp, Dr Lal Path, Eicher, Equitas Holdings, Gail, GE Shipping, Greenply, GSPL, Gulf Oil, IDFC, IDBI Bank, Khadim, MRF, M&M, NLC India, Sobha, Steel Strips Wheels, Sundaram Fin, TTK Prestiege, Tata Communications, Tata Power and Zuari Global will declare their quarterly numbers for the period ended September 2019 on Friday.

Power dues may trip Steelco Gujarat

Shares of Steelco Gujarat may come under pressure, as its power supply has been disconnected by Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company. According to the company, it did not pay the September and October bills due to difficult market conditions coupled with delay in completing the settlement process with banks. Due to the power disconnection, the company's plant will remain shut for a limited period, and it is expected to resume its operations in the next 5-10 days, it added.

Today's Pick: Colgate-Palmolive  (₹1,601.3): Buy

The stock of Colgate-Palmolive, after declining through the first half of this year, started gaining traction in the month of August. The stock took support at an important level at ₹1,100, from where the positive trend resumed. It went on to register a new high of ₹1,589.5 in September, gaining 45 per cent in a period of three months. The stock’s year-to-date return is about 19 per cent. Click here to read in full the Today's Pick on Colgate-Palmolive

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