Stocks continued to trade with weakness in morning trade led by weakness in index heavyweights ITC, L&T and Reliance Industries (RIL). At 10:25 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 145.67 points or 0.48% at 30,513.10. The Nifty 50 index was down 61.65 points or 0.65% at 9,464.10. Weak global stocks played the spoilsport.
Key benchmark indices saw a gap-down opening following weak global cues as concerns over President Donald Trump's administration spooked investors.
The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.08%. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was down 0.96%. The fall in both these indices was higher than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than two losers against every gainer on BSE. 1,560 shares declined and 581 shares rose. A total of 108 shares were unchanged.
Overseas, Asian stocks were trading lower as fears over the fallout from turmoil in Washington prompted investors to unload risky assets such as equities. In US, the Nasdaq yesterday, 17 May 2017 saw its worst one-day decline since the day after U.K.'s vote to exit from the European Union rattled markets, as turmoil in Washington cast doubt on President Donald Trump's pro-growth agenda that had helped to drive stocks to records.
Political uncertainty sent the S&P 500 index down 43.64 points, or 1.8%, to 2,357.03. The Dow sank 372.82 points, or 1.8%, to finish at 20,606.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 158.63 points, or 2.6%, to end at 6,011.24.
The administration is facing scrutiny about whether the president asked the former head of the FBI to drop an investigation, as well as questions about his handling of secret intelligence. The Justice Department named a special counsel to oversee the FBI's investigation of Russia's efforts to influence the 2016 election.
Back home, ITC (down 0.92%), L&T (down 1.56%) and Reliance Industries (RIL) (down 0.96%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.
Cement stocks fell. Ambuja Cements (down 1.57%), ACC (down 1.15%), UltraTech Cement (down 1.65%) and Shree Cement (down 0.7%) declined.
Grasim Industries was off 1.13%. Grasim has exposure to the cement sector through its holding in UltraTech Cement.
JK Lakshmi Cement fell 6.45% after net profit fell 19.4% to Rs 20.85 crore on 9.7% increase in net sales to Rs 806.72 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2017.
Meanwhile, the company said that its board approved raising upto Rs 500 crore by issuing securities, convertible/non-convertible, with or without warrant by any of public and/or private offerings and/or qualified institutions placement or any combination thereof.
Realty stocks dropped. DLF (down 1.84%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 3.42%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (down 2.57%), D B Realty (down 2.59%), Unitech (down 3.15%), Sobha (down 2.82%), Godrej Properties (down 1.91%), Prestige Estates Projects (down 0.69%), Oberoi Realty (down 1.23%), and Parsvnath Developers (down 0.33%) fell.
Dilip Buildcon surged 5.25% after net profit jumped 222.5% to Rs 195.77 crore on 28.8% growth in net sales to Rs 1732.30 crore in Q4 March 2017 over Q4 March 2016. The result was announced after market hours yesterday, 17 May 2017.
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