In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 2.42% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 4.08%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 582 shares rose and 1743 shares fell. A total of 157 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 13 stocks advanced while 37 stocks declined.
Concerns over the coronavirus epidemic overshadowed the steps taken by global central banks for reviving the economy. The US Federal Reserve, The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank have announced coordinated actions to enhance liquidity provision in financial markets to tackle disruption caused by coronavirus outbreak.
Numbers to Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged lower to 75.04 compared with its previous closing of 74.2625.
The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.380% at 14:28 IST compared with 6.296% in the previous trading session.
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In the commodities market, Brent crude for May 2020 settlement was up $2.21 to $27.09 a barrel. The contract slumped 13.40% or $3.85 to settle at $24.88 a barrel in Wednesday's trading session.
MCX Gold futures for 3 April 2020 settlement rose 0.13% to Rs 39,774.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation was up 0.01% to Rs 952.30 while SpiceJet tumbled 8.19% to Rs 34.75.
According to data released on Wednesday by aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), passengers carried by domestic airlines during Jan-Feb 2020 were 251.50 lakhs as against 238.56 lakhs during the corresponding period of previous year thereby registering annual growth of 5.42% and monthly growth of 8.98%.
DGCA added that the passenger load factor in the month of February 2020 has shown increasing trend primarily due to airlines offering promotional fares resulting in increased demand.
InterGlobe Aviation's (IndiGo) market share stood at 48% in February as compared to 47.9% in January. The airline carried 59.31 lakh million passengers in February, down by 3.09% from 61.20 lakh passengers in January 2020.
SpiceJet flew 18.91 lakh passengers, achieving a 15.3% market share, in February 2020. The company toured 21.24 lakh passengers in January 2020, achieving a 16.6% market share.
Meanwhile, the media reported that IndiGo CEO Ronojoy Dutta has announced a pay cut for all employees, with a 25% cut in his own salary. This comes in the wake of a severe hit in the aviation industry owing to travel bans imposed by the government to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Motilal Oswal Financial Services slipped 0.80% to Rs 560.70. The company said that its board will consider share buyback on 21 March 2020.
TCI Express surged 4.59% to Rs 609. The company said that the direct impact of Coronavirus on its business and operations is expected to be very limited, given our unique asset light model with majority of revenues from the B2B segment. The firm's business fundamentals remain robust with diversified client base and industry presence. Furthermore, the company is engaged in the transportation of intermediate parts and products such as spare parts in case of automobiles, API's in case of pharmaceuticals, which are not impacted by short term demand fluctuations from the end consumer. All the company's routes, branches and sorting centers are operational at almost similar utilization levels as Q3 FY2020.
Global Markets:
The US index futures contracts pointed to modest gains at the open Thursday morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 46 points higher.
European shares bounced back after opening lower Thursday after the European Central Bank launched a 750 billion euro ($820 billion) bond-buying program to help the region's economy through the coronavirus outbreak. However, Asian stock markets ended in the red.
The European Central Bank (ECB) said it is launching a new, expanded program to buy financial assets in a bid to calm markets as monetary authorities struggle to counter the devastation the virus outbreak is wreaking on the global economy. The ECB will buy 750 billion euro ($820 billion) in bonds through 2020, with Greek debt and non-financial commercial paper eligible under the programme for the first time.
In US, stocks finished sharply lower on Wednesday, but off session lows after Congress passed the first of two planned bills providing some relief from the economic damage the coronavirus pandemic is inflicting on businesses and consumers.
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