Key benchmark indices further weakened and hit fresh intraday low in mid-morning trade. At 11:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 318.83 points or 1.22% at 25,831.41. The losses for the Nifty 50 index were higher in percentage terms than those for the Sensex. The Nifty was currently down 112.40 points or 1.39% at 7,961.70. The Sensex was currently hovering below the psychological 26,000 mark after falling below that mark in morning trade. The Nifty dropped below the psychological 8,000 level. The Nifty hit almost five-month low. The Sensex hit almost six-month low.
The Sensex lost 373.03 points or 1.42% at the day's low of 25,777.21 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 25 May 2016. The barometer index rose 120.04 points or 0.45% at the day's high of 26,270.28 at the onset of the trading session. The Nifty lost 128.85 points or 1.59% at the day's low of 7,945.25 in mid-morning trade, its lowest level since 24 June 2016. The index rose 28.35 points or 0.35% at the day's high of 8,102.45 at the onset of the trading session.
The recent selling by the foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) of Indian stocks weighed on sentiment. FPIs sold shares worth a net Rs 926.32 crore on Friday, 18 November 2016, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. FPIs were net sellers for the seventh straight session in a row. Likely short term negative impact on the economy of recent demonetization of higher denomination notes by the Indian government and worries that the recently elected US president Donald Trump's policies stance - from protectionism and fiscal expansion - will boost inflation and lead the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates more than expected continued to weigh on sentiment. Investors fear that the higher interest rates in the US will spark capital outflows from the emerging equity markets.
In overseas stock markets, Asian stocks were trading mixed. US stock market finished lower on Friday, 18 November 2016, but higher for the week as Wall Street heads into a holiday-shortened week when the focus will be on a slew of economic data and fresh scrutiny of a suddenly surging US dollar and rising interest rates. A recent rally sparked by bullishness about President-elect Donald Trump's potential pro-growth fiscal policies helped pushed stocks back toward record levels. Friday's trading was subdued as investors pulled back and focused on remarks made on the previous day by Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen that pointed to a hike in interest rates next month.
Closer home, the broad market depicted weakness. There were more than five losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,940 shares fell and 336 shares rose. A total of 132 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 2.28%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 2.65%. The decline in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
Shares of power generation and power distribution companies edged lower. GVK Power & Infrastructure (down 0.88%), NHPC (down 0.01%), Tata Power Company (down 0.5%), NTPC (down 0.03%), Adani Power (down 0.02%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 2.53%), and Reliance Power (down 0.62%) declined. Torrent Power (up 1.49%) and Reliance Infrastructure (up 0.04%) gained.
Shares of state-run coal miner Coal India lost 0.18%.
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Capital goods stocks also dropped. BEML (down 1.43%), Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 2.38%), Havells India (down 4.75%), L&T (down 0.58%), Thermax (down 0.59%), Crompton Greaves (down 3.92%) and Siemens (down 1.35%) declined.
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