Sensex slips below 40,000 mark; auto stocks skid

Key equity indices trimmed losses in mid-morning trade. The Nifty hovered around the decisive 11,700 mark. The index trades fractionally above its 200 days simple moving average placed at 11,684.71. Market sentiment continued to be negative on the back of weak global cues. The BSE Sensex slipped below the psychological 40,000 mark for the first time since 3 February 2020.

At 11:26 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 282.18 points or 0.7% at 39,999.02. The Nifty 50 index was down 88 points or 0.75% at 11,709.90.

The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.84% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.31%.

The market breadth was titled in the favour of sellers. On the BSE, 702 shares rose and 1301 shares fell. A total of 104 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 10 stocks advanced while 40 stocks declined.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index declined 1.67% to 7,243, extending its losing streak to third consecutive session. The index has slumped 5.91% in three sessions on the back of continued to slowdown in auto sector.

TVS Motor Company in an exchange filing on 24 February said that it estimates Coronavirus would lead to a 10% drop in production for February 2020. The company said that its direct dependency on China for the import of automobile components has been limited but some Tier II suppliers have been impacted adversely which would lead to drop in the planned production for the month of February 2020. China is a key part of the global automobile supply chain. Shares of TVS Motor were trading 1.66% lower at Rs 429.10.

Tata Motors (down 3.5%), Ashok Leyland (down 3.23%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 1.95%), Eicher Motors (down1.85%), Mahindra and Mahindra (down 1.01%), SML Isuzu (down 0.7%), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.63%) and Bajaj Auto (down 0.38%) were top losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Bajaj Healthcare said that the Company has executed agreement with Vetpharma to purchase its manufacturing facilities of bulk drug and API comprising of immovable properties and movable properties including plant and machineries. Shares of Bajaj Healthcare were trading 0.02% lower at Rs 225.

IRB Infrastructure Developers informed that the company has been awarded the Mumbai-Pune Expressway project under the Toll-Operate-Toll (TOT) model. The company received a Letter of Acceptance (LoA) from the nodal agency, Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). The concession includes collection of toll and operation and maintenance (O&M) activities on Mumbai Pune Expressway and Old Mumbai-Pune Highway NH-48 for a concession span of 10 years and 2 months, i.e., up to 30 April 2030. Shares of IRB Infrastructure were trading 0.05% lower at Rs 97.70.

Godawari Power & Ispat surged 7.34% to Rs 193.70 after the company said it commenced commercial production in rolling mill and iron ore beneficiation plant from 25 February 2020. These facilities will help company sell valued added products, the company said in a notification post market hours on Tuesday (25 February).

Global Markets:

Asian markets were trading lower on Wednesday as a US warning to Americans to prepare for the possibility of a coronavirus pandemic drove another Wall Street tumble and pushed yields on safe-haven Treasuries to record lows.

In US, stocks closed with the Dow Jones Industrial Average registering its worst two day loss on record after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned Americans to prepare for a coronavirus outbreak and investors attempted to assess the impact of the epidemic in China on global trade and travel.

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