The broader market was trading lower. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.86% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was declined 1.69%.
Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 584 shares rose and 1935 shares fell. A total of 137 shares were unchanged.
Investors turned cautious after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was quoted by the media as saying that the current India-China border situation was "very serious". In a fresh sign of escalation, India and China reportedly accused each other of firing into the air on the border of western Himalayas.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,056.52 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net buyers to the tune of Rs 620.29 crore in the Indian equity market on 8 September, provisional data showed.
COVID-19 Update:
Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 2,75,79,437 with 8,97,614 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. India reported 8,97,394 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 73,890 deaths while 33,98,844 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
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Gainers & Losers:
SBI (down 5%), Axis Bank (down 3.94%), Tata Motors (down 3.87%), Bajaj Finserv (down 3.85%) and ONGC (down 3.76%) were top losers in Nifty 50 index.
Cipla (up 1.05%), HDFC Life (up 0.78%) and Nestle India (up 0.74%) are top gainers in Nifty 50 index.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) was up 1.4%. Silver Lake will invest Rs 7,500 crore in Reliance Retail Ventures (RRVL) at an equity value of Rs 4.21 lakh crore. The investment will translate into a 1.75% equity stake in RRVL, which operates a retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its approximately 12,000 stores nationwide.
Buzzing Sector:
The Nifty Auto index shed 0.38% to 7,857.95. Ashok Leyland (down 3.77%), Tata Motors (down 3.44%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.66%), TVS Motor Company (down 0.55%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.52%) declined.
Escorts (up 5.03%), Hero MotoCorp (up 0.68%), Eicher Motors (up 0.47%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.44%) advanced.
The Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA), the industry apex body for auto dealers, released automobile retail sales data for August 2020 during market hours today, 8 September 2020. Total vehicle registration fell 26.81% to 11.88 lakh units in August 2020 as against 16.23 lakh units in August 2019. Total vehicle registration rose 3.97% to 11.88 lakh units in August 2020 as compared to 11.42 lakh units in July 2019.
Commercial vehicle (CV) space tanked 57.39% on Y-o-Y basis. CV registrations for August 2020 stood at 26,536 units on comparison to 62,270 units in January 2019. Passenger vehicle registration declined 7.12% to 1.78 lakh units on year-on-year (YoY) basis. Two-wheeler sales stood at 8.98 lakh units in August 2020 as against 12.60 lakh units in August 2019, registering a decline of 28.71%. Three-wheeler segment witnessed a 69.51% drop to 16,857 units in August 2020 as against 55,293 units in August 2019.
However, Tractor sales jumped 27.80% to 67,406 units in August 2020 over 52,744 units in August 2019.
Stocks in Spotlight:
JSW Steel fell 0.23%. The company said that its crude steel production rose 5% to 13.17 lakh tonnes in August 2020 from 12.53 lakh tonnes in August 2019. Sequentially, the crude steel production increased 6% in August from 12.46 lakh tonnes in July 2020. While the company's production of flat rolled products jumped 15% to 9.80 lakh tonnes, the production of long rolled products declined by 20% to 2.32 lakh tonnes in August 2020 over August 2019. "The average capacity utilisation during the month of August 2020 was 88%, the steel maker said.
Dr Reddy's Laboratories was up 1.54%. The drug major on Wednesday (9 September) announced the launch of Remdesivir, under a brand name Redyx in India. The launch is part of the licensing agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. that grants Dr. Reddy's the right to register, manufacture and sell Remdesivir, a potential treatment for Covid-19, in 127 countries including India. Remdesivir is approved by Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for restricted emergency use in India for the treatment of Covid-19 patients hospitalized with severe symptoms.
Further, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories also announced the launch of over-the-counter Diclofenac Sodium Topical Gel 1%, the store brand version of Voltaren Arthritis Pain in the US market. The solution is used for the temporary relief of arthritis pain in upper and lower body areas. Voltaren Arthritis Pain brand had total US retail sales of approximately $44 million since launch in May 2020 according to IRI.
IRCTC declined 2.89%. As per media reports, the government is planning to sell 15-20% of its stake in the company via offer for sale (OFS). The Department of Disinvestment has invited bids for the appointment of merchant bankers and selling brokers, as per a news report.
SML Isuzu fell 2.37%. The company reported a net loss of Rs 52.26 crore in Q1 FY21 as compared to a net profit of Rs 16.66 crore in Q1 FY20. Net sales during the quarter declined 93.9% YoY to Rs 28.74 crore during the quarter.
Global Markets:
The Dow Jones Futures 30 were trading 140 points higher, indicating a strong start in US market today.
European stocks opened higher while Asian stocks were trading lower on Wednesday. Wall Street sank for the third consecutive day led by declines in heavyweight technology companies. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca said a late-stage trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate has been put on hold due to safety concerns.
Chinese inflation data for August released Wednesday showed the producer price index declined 2% in August from a year earlier, according to China's National Bureau of Statistics. The consumer price index in August rose 2.4% as compared with a year ago.
In US, stocks closed lower for a third straight session on Tuesday as heavyweight technology names extended their sell-off. Among U.S. technology names, electric-car maker Tesla plunged 21.1% to suffer its biggest daily percentage drop after it was excluded from a group of companies being added to the S&P 500.
Apple dropped 6.7% to lead tech lower. Facebook and Amazon were both down more than 4%. Microsoft fell 6.7%. Netflix closed 1.8% lower and Alphabet lost 3.6%. Zoom Video fell by 5.1%.
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