Nifty below 11,300; metal stocks melt

Domestic shares crashed as coronavirus fears continued to rattle global markets. The illness derived from the novel coronavirus, SARS-COV-2, which originated in China, is starting to affect global trade and travel and dent confidence about earnings and economic growth. The Nifty 50 index slipped below the decisive 11,300 mark.

At 10:27 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, tumbled 1,130 points or 2.84% at 38,615.66. The Nifty 50 index was down 335.95 points or 2.89% at 11,297.35.

Selling was wide spread. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 3.45% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 3.43%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 222 shares rose and 1710 shares fell. A total of 77 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 1 stock advanced while 49 stocks declined.

Economy:

Investors will keep a close watch on the quarterly GDP estimate for the quarter October-December, 2019 (Q3 of 2019-20), which will release today, 28 February 2020. ICRA expects that the Indian economic growth may display a mild improvement. It estimates annual economic growth at 4.7% in the October-December 2019 quarter, marginally higher than 4.5% in the previous quarter.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Metal index slumped 6% to 2,265. The index is down 8.31% in three trading sessions.

Prices of industrial metals came under pressure as mounting fears that the new flu-like virus will grow into a pandemic have heightened worries of a slowdown in global economic growth. China is the largest producer and consumer of industrial metals. Given such a dominant market share any slowdown in the Chinese economy has a major impact on metal prices and global markets.

Tata Steel (down 7.84%), NMDC (down 7.08%), Jindal Steel & Power (down 6.65%), Steel Authority of India (down 6.46%), Vedanta (down 6.25%), JSW Steel (down 5.38%), Hindalco Industries (down 5.11%), National Aluminium Company (down 4.9%), Hindustan Zinc (down 4.66%), Tata Metaliks (down 3.29%) and Coal India Ltd (down 3.05%) were top losers in metal segment.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Shares of GTPL Hathway were down 3.43% at Rs 63.30. The company announced that promoter Jio Content Distribution Holdings proposed to sell up 43.12 lakh shares of the company via Offer For Sales (OFS). The floor price for OFS has been fixed at Rs 63 per share. The OFS for non-retail investors is open today, 28 Feb 2020 while OFS for retail investors wil open on2 March 2020.

Lemon Tree Hotels through its management subsidiary Carnation Hotels, announced the launch of Lemon Tree Hotel in Thimphu, Bhutan. This is company's first hotel in Bhutan and second in international destination. Shares of Lemon Tree were down 6.43% at Rs 49.5.

Pidilite Industries was down 1.44%. The company entered into a definitive agreement with Tenax SPA for acquiring 70% of the share capital of Tenax India Stone Products for cash consideration of Rs 80 crore. Tenax Italy is a leading manufacturer of adhesives, coating, surface treatment chemicals and abrasives for the marble, granite and stone Industry.

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