Key barometers extended losses and hit fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:37 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 213.62 points or 0.63 % at 33,853.78. The Nifty 50 index was down 50.85 points or 0.50% at 10,200. The Sensex was trading below the 34,000 mark.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was up 0.56%. The BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.73%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was positive. On BSE, 1444 shares rose and 1023 shares fell. A total of 144 shares were unchanged.
Reliance Industries (down 2.72%), Coal India (down 2.4%), IndusInd Bank (down 2.34%), Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.7%), Power Grid Corporation of India (down 1.42%), ONGC (down 1.29%), Tata Steel (down 1.29%) and HDFC (down 1.28%), were the major Sensex losers.
Hindustan Unilever (up 2.58%), Infosys (up 2.54%), State Bank of India (up 2.41%), TCS (up 1.24%), Tata Motor (up 1.23%) and Yes Bank (up 1.16%), were the major Sensex gainers.
India's finance minister Arun Jaitley reportedly criticised the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for failing to prevent lending excess in a speech on Tuesday. The central bank looked the other way when banks gave loans indiscriminately during 2008 to 2014, Jaitley was quoted while speaking at an event in New Delhi. According to media reports, tensions between the finance ministry and the RBI have risen since the bank's deputy governor said in a speech on Friday that undermining a central bank's independence could be "potentially catastrophic", in an indication that it is pushing back hard against government pressure to relax its policies and reduce its powers.
On the economic front, India and Japan signed a bilateral currency swap agreement on Monday, 29 October 2018, for up to $75 billion during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Tokyo. Under the arrangement, India can acquire dollars from Japan in exchange for rupees. The agreement would help bring greater stability to foreign exchange and capital markets in India. This arrangement would also further help India tap foreign capital for the country's development needs. This facility will enable the agreed amount of foreign capital being available to India for use as and when the need arises.
Overseas, European stocks were mixed on Tuesday, as investors monitored earnings. Fears of a sharp escalation in the trade war between the world's two largest economies spooked investors.
Most Asian shares were trading higher. US stocks closed lower Monday in a volatile session as concerns about global growth resurfaced following a news report that suggested that the US is about to intensify its trade war with China.
President Donald Trump's administration is prepared to announce tariffs on remaining Chinese imports if talks next month between Trump and Xi Jinping do not yield results, the media reported. Such a move is expected to hurt the global economy.
On the US data front, consumer spending rose 0.4% in September. Incomes rose a smaller 0.2%, the smallest rise in 13 months, while inflationary pressures appeared to slacken. The personal-consumption expenditures inflation index, the Federal Reserve's favorite price gauge, rose 0.1% in September, while the 12-month rate slipped to 2% from 2.2%.
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