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Markets continue to lose sheen in today’s trade on decline in crude oil prices and heavy sell-off by fund and retail investors on concerns about global growth. Further, the political uncertainty in Greece aslo weighed on market sentiment.
In the meanwhile, the quarterly earning season which is bound to kick start from Friday, 9 Januray will be keenly watched by the market participants.
By 1.15PM, the 30-share Sensex is lower by 555 points at 27,277 whereas the Nifty plunged by 161 points at 8,217 levels.
The broader markets are underperforming in line with the benchmark indices- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices have slumped over 1.6% each
The market breadth in BSE remains unhealthy with 1,968 shares declining and 678 shares advancing.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities to the tune of Rs 472 crore on Monday, as per provisional stock exchange data.
The Indian rupee was trading marginally higher at Rs 63.38 compared to the previous close of Rs 63.42.
Key Stocks:
On the sectoral front, all 13 indices are losing sheen in today’s trade with BSE Realty, Oil &gas and Metal indices leading the decline down over 2.5%.
A broad sell off is evident in today’s trade with energy stocks leading the decline. ONGC is down 4%. RIL and GAIL are down over 2.6% as crude oil prices plunged to fresh 5-1/2-year lows on rising concerns about a surplus of global supplies and lacklustre demand. Meanwhile, NYMEX crude was trading at $50.10.
An appreciating rupee has further pressurized the defensive stocks. Technology stocks are trading lower with Infosys down 2% on caution ahead of the Q3 results due on Friday. TCS and Wipro are following the tandem and have lost between 1.6-2.5%. From the pharma pack, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Cipla and Sun Pharma have declined between 2-3%.
In thePSB segment, Finance Minister comments that in order to bring about a level playing field, banks may consider uniform card rates for bulk deposits for different maturities at least up to one year across banks...all concerned may also be appropriately advised that deviation from the above instructions may be treated as violation of instructions of the government. Financials have slipped across the exchange. Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC twins and SBI have lost between 0.7-4%.
The auto shares which flourished in the yesterday’s trade have are trading lower on profit booking. Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, Hero Motocorp and M&M have dipped between 0.5-3.5%.
Global Markets:
Asian stocks sank on Tuesday for a second day as slumping oil prices and concern Greece might leave the European currency union fueled unease about the global growth outlook. Japan's Nikkei, Hong Kong;s Hang Seng and Singapore's Straits Times indices are trading lower between 1-4%.
The possibility that Greece's anti-austerity Syriza party might win national elections this month has fed doubts about whether the country will stick to terms of its bailout and remain in the euro bloc. Germany has warned against reneging on bailout terms. The euro already was under pressure from concern about the region's growth outlook and expectations the European Central Bank will expand monetary stimulus.
