Nifty dips below 7,150; Sensex down over 250 points

Financial shares were the top losers along with FMCG shares

Markets continue to trade lower in noon trades weighed down by weakness in private sector banks and FMCG shares. Meanwhile, market participants are eyeing the developments regarding the crucial legislations like GST amendment bill in the ongoing budget session of Parliament.

At 12:45 pm, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 277 points at 23,512 and the Nifty50 was down 93 points at 7,141.     

BUZZING STOCKS

In the banking pack, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, IDBI Bank, Bank of India and Union Bank of India dropped up to 3% after rating agency ICRA on Monday lowered the debt rating of Bank of India by one notch, and cut long-term outlook for Central Bank of India, UCO Bank and Indian Overseas Bank, from stable to negative on asset quality concerns. The negative sentiment has spread to the private banking space. ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank have shed up to 2%.

Shares of NTPC has dipped 2% extending previous day’s 2% fall on the BSE, after the central government said that it will divest 5% stake in power giant through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route, which begins today. It has fixed the base price at Rs 122 a share.

ITC continues its downward slide and has lost 1.5% on fears that the government may hike excise duty on cigarettes which will impact revenues of India's biggest cigarette maker.

Prominent losers in the Sensex pack include HUL, Bajaj Auto, Cipla, Lupin down up to 2.4%. On the other hand, Dr Reddy’s Lab, ONGC, Tata Steel and Sun Pharma trading higher up to 1%.

Among others, VA Tech Wabag was up nearly 1% at Rs 516 on the Bombay Stock Exchange, in an otherwise weak market, after the company announced that its step-down subsidiary in Egypt has been liquidated.

Richa Industries was up nearly 3% at Rs 30.50 on the BSE after the company announced that it has secured an order worth Rs 23 crore from IRCON International Ltd, a government company incorporated by the Ministry of Railways.
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(updated at 10:25 am)

Benchmark share indices extended losses and were trading at their day's low with FMCG and financial shares leading the decline.

At 10:25am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 212 points at 23,577 and the Nifty50 was down 70  points at 7,164.     

In the broader market,  the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were down 0.4% each. Market breadth turned weak with 1108 declines and 610 advances on the BSE.

The Indian rupee was trading with marginal gains against the US dollar at 68.57 after selling of the Amercian currency by exporters.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Bankex was the top loser down 1.5% followed by FMCG among others. Meanwhile, BSE Metal index was the sole gainer.

ITC continues to remain under pressure and was down 1.5% on worries over excise duty hike on cigarettes in the forthcoming Budget.

HUL was down nearly 2% on profit taking after gains in the previous session.

HDFC and HDFC Bank were down over 1.5% each contributing the most to the Sensex losses.

NTPC was down 2.1% The government will divest 5% stake in the power giant through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route on Tuesday, as part of the 2015-16 disinvestment plan. It has fixed the base price at Rs 122 a share.

Among other shares, Tata Motors' Differential Voting Rights (DVR) came off its early highs and was up 3% after the stock along with three other companies would be added in the benchmark Nifty50 index with effect from April 1.

Aurobindo Pharma, Bharti Infratel and Eicher Motors which will be included in the Nifty50 were up 1.5%-3% each.

Meanwhile, PNB was down 3% while Cairn India was trading flat as these stocks will be excluded from the Nifty50 from April 1. However, Vedanta which will also be excluded from the Nifty50 was up 1.2%.
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(updated at 9:35am)
Markets continued to trade weak with index heavyweights leading the decline.
 
At 9:35am, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 136 points  at 23,653 and the Nifty50 was down 43 points  at 7,192.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers to the tune of Rs 657 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

SECTORS & STOCKS

BSE Bankex, IT and FMCG indices were among the top sectoral losers among others.

ITC continues to remain under pressure and was down over 1% on worries over excise duty hike on cigarettes in the forthcoming Budget.

HUL was down nearly 1% on profit taking after gains in the previous session.

HDFC and HDFC Bank were down 0.7% each contributing the most to the Sensex losses.

NTPC was down 2.1% The government will divest 5% stake in the power giant through the Offer for Sale (OFS) route on Tuesday, as part of the 2015-16 disinvestment plan. It has fixed the base price at Rs 122 a share.
Other losers include, Infosys and Bharti Airtel among others.

GLOBAL MARKETS

Asian markets trimmed early gains and were trading mixed. Shares had gained in early trades tracking firm global crude oil prices and gains in commodities. The Nikkei was trading flat with positive bias and Straits Times was up 0.3% while Shanghai Composite was down 0.7% while Hang Seng slipped 0.2%.

US stocks ended over 1% higher on Monday after gains in crude oil prices led to rally in energy stocks. The Dow Jones industrial average surged 1.4% at 16,621, the S&P 500 gained 1.5% at 1,946 and Nasdaq jumped 1.5% to end at 4,571.