Stocks extended slide and hit fresh intraday low in morning trade dragged down by Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel. At 10:18 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 147.88 points or 0.43% at 33,862.88. The Nifty 50 index was down 41.25 points or 0.39% at 10,411.05. The Sensex was trading below the psychological 34,000 mark after drifting below that level in early trade. Stocks from capital goods and realty sectors declined.
A bout of volatility was seen in early trade as the key benchmark indices opened higher but quickly erased gains to sink in the negative zone.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.69%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.81%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,628 shares fell and 632 shares rose. A total of 106 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian shares were trading higher as sentiment improved gradually from a recent shakeout that stemmed from fears of creeping inflation and higher borrowing costs. Markets in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan remain closed for the holiday. US markets will be closed today, 19 February 2018 in observance of Presidents Day.
Japanese exports rose for a 14th straight month in January 2018, helped by continued demand from Asia for equipment to make semiconductors, data from Japan's finance ministry showed today, 19 February 2018. Exports grew 12.2% in January from a year earlier, following a 9.3% year-on-year gain in the previous month.
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In US, the Dow industrials and S&P 500 logged their sixth straight advance on Friday, 16 February 2018 but the Nasdaq lagged its peers, as political drama sparked turbulent trade late in the session. Special Counsel Robert Mueller announced the indictments of 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities, accusing them of interfering in the 2016 US presidential election. The indictment said the defendants were supporting Donald Trump's campaign and disparaging Hillary Clinton.
Back home, among the key losers from the Sensex pack, Tata Steel lost 4.07%, State Bank of India 1.66% and Bharti Airtel fell 1.49%.
Capital goods stocks edged lower. BEML lost 2.94%, Thermax 2.08%, ABB India 1.88%, Bharat Electronics 1.64%, Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) 0.9% and Siemens fell 0.33%. Punj Lloyd rose 0.25%.
Shares of engineering and construction major L&T were down 1.43%. The water & effluent treatment business of L&T Construction has secured EPC orders worth Rs 1680 crore from Pune Municipal Corporation for study, survey, investigation, assessment, design validation and revamping of the entire water supply system for Pune city. L&T Construction is the construction arm of L&T. The announcement was made during market hours today, 19 February 2018.
The scope of the project includes supply, laying, testing and commissioning of water transmission pipelines, optical fiber cable ducts, construction of sumps & house service connections along with water audit, non-revenue water reduction, SCADA, bill reading & generation and other associated electromechanical & instrumentation works.
Realty stocks declined. Peninsula Land lost 4.36%, Indiabulls Real Estate 2.35%, DLF 2.31%, Sobha 2.1%, D B Realty 1.72%, Godrej Properties 0.94%, Unitech 0.81%, Housing Development and Infrastructure 0.58% and Oberoi Realty fell 0.09%. Prestige Estates Projects rose 1.85%.
KPR Mill jumped 6.49% after the company said it has scheduled a board meeting on 22 February 2018, to consider the proposal for buyback of the fully paid-up equity shares of the company. The announcement was made on Saturday, 17 February 2018.
PG Electroplast fell 0.89%. The company said that it successfully commissioned the PU paint shop at its Greater Noida facility. The company has entered into a strategic tie up with Orient Electric for the PU paint shop. The current capacity of the PU paint shop is 2000 fans per day. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 16 February 2018.
With this development, the company's position has strengthened further in the plastics space in India. This will lead to better value addition for the company and as capacity utilization ramps up, this capacity will add to the top and bottom line of the company.
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