Weakness persisted on the bourses in mid-morning trade due to sustained selling pressure in index pivotals. At 11:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 287.76 points or 1.03% to 27,588.85. The Nifty 50 index was currently down 94.65 points or 1.1% at 8,531.60. The broad market depicted weakness with many small and mid-cap stocks suffering sharp slide. A new poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump leading the US presidential race spooked investors.
A gap-down opening in tandem with other Asian stocks pulled the key benchmark indices to their lowest level in over two weeks in early trade. The Sensex lost 341.59 points or 1.23% at the day's low of 27,535.02 in early trade, its lowest level since 17 October 2016. The barometer index fell 197.29 points or 0.71% at the day's low of 27,679.32 in opening trade. The Nifty lost 107.55 points or 1.25% at the day's low of 8,518.70 in early trade, its lowest level since 17 October 2016. The index fell 78.80 points or 0.91% at the day's high of 8,547.45 at onset of the day's trading session.
In overseas markets, Asian markets were trading lower as a new poll showing Republican candidate Donald Trump leading the US presidential race spooked investors. US markets closed lower yesterday, 1 November 2016 as investors grappled with a tightening presidential race, economic data, corporate earnings, and the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision. Polls reportedly show the race between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican rival Donald Trump continues to tighten. Another poll reportedly showed Trump taking a one-point lead, while the polling average showed Clinton's lead narrowed to 2.2 percentage points from more than 7 points two weeks ago. Clinton is seen as the more market-friendly candidate by many investors. Meanwhile, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s two-day meet on monetary policy will concludes today, 2 November 2016 and is widely expected to leave rates unchanged. FOMC in its September meet had kept policy rate unchanged.
Closer home, the broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers for every gainer on BSE. 1,821 shares declined and 703 shares rose. A total of 80 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index was currently down 1.56%. The BSE Small-Cap index was currently down 1.54%. The fall in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
Pharma stocks declined. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (down 1.94%), Alkem Laboratories (down 1.03%), Cadila Healthcare (down 2.96%), Cipla (down 1.29%), Dr Reddy's Laboratories (down 0.45%), Glenmark Pharmaceuticals (down 1.81%), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (down 0.1%), Aurobindo Pharma (down 2.26%) and Wockhardt (down 2.06%) fell.
Lupin slipped 0.13%. The company announced that it has received final approval for Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets USP, 0.25 mg/0.035 mg from the United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to market a generic version of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Ortho-Cyclen 28 Tablets (Norgestimate/Ethinyl Estradiol). The approved product will be manufactured at Lupin's Pithampur facility. Lupin's Norgestimate and Ethinyl Estradiol Tablets USP, 0.25 mg/0.035 mg are the AB rated generic equivalent of Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc.'s Ortho-Cyclen 28 Tablets (Norgestimate/Ethinyl Estradiol). It is indicated for use by females of reproductive potential to prevent pregnancy. Ortho-Cyclen Tablets had US sales of $178.2 million as per IMS MAT June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours yesterday, 1 November 2016.
Capital goods stocks declined. Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) (down 2.05%), L&T (down 1.37%), BEML (down 1.66%), ABB India (down 0.59%), Bharat Electronics (down 1.43%), Crompton Greaves (down 0.71%), Siemens (down 0.48%) fell. Thermax rose 0.26%.
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