Nifty ends below 10,200, Sensex down 174 points; banks, realty drag

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The benchmark indices ended lower in a volatile session as Asian markets stayed cautious ahead of US Federal Reserve's policy outcome later today, wherein it is widely expected to raise interest rates by at least 25 basis points (bps).

Back home, investors will react to November CPI inflation rising to 15-month high of 4.88% and industrial output growth slowing to a 3-month low of 2.2% in October.

Inflation justified the Reserve Bank of India's stance of a status quo in its monetary policy review earlier this month. It had projected inflation to be in the range of 4.3-4.7 per cent in the second half of the year. 

3:42 PM

Nifty PSU Bank index down over 1.5%

Source: NSE

3:40 PM

Top index laggard: Nifty Realty

Source: NSE

3:38 PM

Sectoral trend

Source: NSE

3:37 PM

Top Sensex gainers and losers

Source: BSE

3:35 PM

Broader Markets

Broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices with BSE Midcapand BSE smallcap indices down 0.8% each

3:33 PM

Markets at close

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 33,053, down 174 points while the broader Nifty50 index ended at 10,192, down 47 points

3:21 PM

LIC cuts stake

State-owned Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has reduced its stake in IT firm Mastek by 3.09% after selling 7.30 lakh shares in the open market.

 

As per a BSE filing, LIC, which had 6.14 per cent stake in Mastek earlier, brought down the shareholding in the company to 3.05%. LIC sold the stake between December 18, 2014 and December 11, 2017.

3:11 PM

Aadhaar-PAN linking deadline relaxed for 'certain' financial dealings: Govt

 

The government has amended rules requiring mandatory quoting of national biometric identifier Aadhaar and PAN for certain financial transactions like opening of a bank account by keeping the deadline open-ended in place of the current December 31.

 

A new rule modifying the Prevention of Money Laundering Act of 2002 has been notified to replace the requirement of submitting "the Aadhaar number and Permanent Account Number by December 31, 2017" with "submit the Aadhaar number, and Permanent Account Number or Form No. 60, by such date as may be notified by the Central Government".

 

The notification by the Department of Revenue in the finance ministry effectively paves the way for extending the deadline for mandatory quoting of Aadhaar for activities like the opening of a bank account. READ MORE

3:00 PM

Cement shares gain as Supreme Court allows use of pet coke

 

Shares of cement companies moved higher by up to 6% on the BSE after media reports suggested that the Supreme Court has allowed the use of pet coke, the primary fuel and input material for cement makers.

 

Kakatiya Cement, HeidelbergCement India, Mangalam Cement, JK Cements, Shree Cement, JK Lakshmi Cement, Prism Cement, India Cements and Shree Digvijay Cement Company were up in the range of 2% to 6% on the BSE.

 

Most of the cement stocks had underperformed the market after the Supreme Court (SC) on November 17, asked all the states and Union Territories to consider enforcing the decision of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) prohibiting the use of pet coke and furnace oil by the industry in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan. READ MORE

2:43 PM

Market Check

Index	Current	Pt. Change	% Change
S&P BSE SENSEX	33,107.29	-120.70	-0.36
S&P BSE SENSEX 50	10,662.06	-30.77	-0.29
S&P BSE SENSEX Next 50	35,222.27	-188.65	-0.53
S&P BSE 100	10,682.52	-35.26	-0.33
S&P BSE Bharat 22 Index	3,675.19	-13.16	-0.36

2:26 PM

Liquor stocks gain; GM Breweries, Associated Alcohols soar over 10%

 

Shares of liquor companies rallied up to 14% on BSE on Wednesday on the back of heavy volumes, extending their past two-and-half months rally after the company reported a good set of numbers for the quarter ended September (Q2FY18).

 

GM Breweries and Associated Alcohols & Breweries surged more than 10%, Som Distilleries, United Breweries, Global Spirits, IFB Agro Industries, Pincon Spirit and Empee Distilleries were up in the range of 2% to 10% on the BSE. 

 

Thus far total 13 companies from the breweries & distilleries sector declared their Q2FY18 results, and doubled their aggregate net profit to Rs 322 crore. These companies had reported combined net profit of Rs 153 crore in the same quarter last fiscal year.

2:10 PM

Punj Lloyd surges on contract wins

 

Shares of Punj Lloyd rose 13.6% to Rs 23.4, their highest since Nov 3 after the company got project to upgrade a section of road connecting the towns of Yargi and Kalewa in Myanmar worth Rs 1,177 crore.

1:52 PM

Bonds fall after November inflation spurs rate-hike talk

 

The price of India’s benchmark 10-year bond fell to its lowest in more than 16 months on Wednesday after unexpectedly high consumer inflation in November raised fears the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) could hike interest rates sooner than had been expected.

1:35 PM

ADB lowers India's GDP forecast for FY18 to 6.7%

The Asian Development Bank on Wednesday raised its economic growth estimate for developing Asia to 6% for this year from a previous estimate of 5.9%, citing stronger than expected exports and China's resilience.

 

The Manila-based ADB kept its 2018 growth forecast at 5.8%.

 

"Developing Asia's growth momentum, supported by recovering exports, demonstrates that openness to trade remains an essential component of inclusive economic development," ADB chief economist Yasuyuki Sawada said in a report, an update of the bank's previous estimates released in September. READ MORE

1:17 PM

I-T dept conducts surveys at Bitcoin exchanges across the country

 

The Income Tax Department on Wednesday conducted survey operations at major Bitcoin exchanges across the country on suspicion of alleged tax evasion, official sources said.

 

They said various teams of the sleuths of the department, under the command of the Bengaluru investigation wing, today visited the premises of nine such exchanges in the country including in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi and Gurugram, since early morning.

 

The survey, under section 133A of the Income Tax Act, is being conducted for "gathering evidence for establishing the identity of investors and traders, transaction undertaken by them, identity of counterparties, related bank accounts used, among others," they said. READ MORE