Sensex ends 479 points lower; RIL dips 3%

Benchmark indices have closed lower by around 2% dragged by heavy selling among heavyweight shares like Reliance Inds, financials and auto shares.

Provisionally, the Sensex closed down by 478.67 points at 26,361.83 and the Nifty ended at 7,965.15 down 159.30.


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Updated at 2:50PM

Benchmark indices have declined sharply on a broad based selling across the counters as investors resort to profit booking after the markets registered a smart rally in yesterday’s trade. Depreciating rupee coupled with firming crude prices has further hurt the sentiments.

At 2.50 PM, the Sensex was down 425 points at 26,425 and the Nifty was down 141 points at 7,984.

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(updated at 2:20 PM)

Benchmark indices continue to slump further as traders indulge in heavy selling of banking and select index heavyweight shares post noon despite strong global cues.

At 2:20PM, the 30-share Sensex shed 312 points or 1.16% and was quoting at 26,526 while the 50-share Nifty was struggling to keep its crucial technical level of 8000 and was trading at 8,017 levels, down by 106 points or 1.3%.

The broader markets also succumbed to selling pressure with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices trading lower by 0.9% and 0.8% respectively. The market breadth is strongly negative with 1,705 declines against 767 advances on the BSE.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee was down by 8 paise and was trading at Rs 63.92 against the greenback tracking weakness in the local equities.

On the macro-economic front, India’s current account deficit (CAD) declined sharply to $1.3 billion (0.2% of gross domestic product) in the quarter ended March from $8.3 billion (1.6% of GDP) in the quarter ended December.

SECTORS & STOCKS

On the sectoral front, all the sectoral indices are trading in red. Leading the downfall is BSE Bankex, declining 1.65% followed by BSE Auto index, down by 1.61%. Power, Consumer Durables and Information Technology indices are down between 1-1.3% each on the BSE.

Banking sector is bleeding heavily on account of profit-booking after the RBI allowed banks to take control of debt-laden companies by converting loans into equity. Shares of HDFC twins, SBI, ICICI bank, and Axis Bank have dropped between 1-2% each on the BSE. Bank Nifty has declined around 2% at 17,370, down over 300 points.

Tata Motors is the biggest loser on the Sensex, declining over 3.5%. Tata Motors, owner of Jaguar Land Rover, is suffering from the effects of a slowdown in the crucial Chinese market.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries is down by nearly 3% ahead of the annual general meeting, which will be held on 12 June. Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, is likely to announce plans for telecom subsidiary Reliance Jio Infocomm in its AGM.

Tata Steel is trading lower by 1.5% after Unions in UK notified plans to take industrial action in dispute over the Tata Steel UK's proposals to revise the British Steel Pensions Scheme's contribution and benefits framework.

Other notable losers are NTPC, BHEL, Wipro, and M&M, all down between 2-2.5% each on the Sensex.

On the gaining side, Vedanta is the highest gainer, soaring over 2% on the BSE after the reports suggest that the company is all set to announce its merger with Cairn India on Sunday.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever gained nearly 1% on the Sensex after  the company decided to withdraw its range of Knorr instant noodles from the market awaiting product approval from the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).

SMART MOVERS

AstraZeneca Pharma India was locked at 20% upper circuit on BSE after the company announced the launch of Forxiga (dapaglifozin), a breakthrough treatment for Type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Shares of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals are up by 1% on BSE after Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Inc., USA has been granted final approval by the USFDA for Calcipotriene Cream, 0.005%

Shares of Surana Solar slumped 20% on BSE after media reports clarified that the bulk deal in the stock was not done by ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala but by his namesake.