Key equity benchmark indices witnessed a sudden slide during the latter part of the trading session as trading in US index futures pointed to a sharp slide in US stocks later in the global day amid fears the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates this year in the wake of mixed US employment data. A setback in European stocks also triggered the latest slide on the domestic bourses. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 392.27 points or 1.59% to 24,224.70, as per the provisional closing data. The losses for 50-unit Nifty 50 index were lower in percentage terms than those for Sensex. The Nifty fell 101.85 points or 1.36% at 7,387.25, as per the provisional closing data.
The market breadth indicating the overall health of the market turned negative from positive in late trade. On BSE, 1,480 shares fell and 1,183 shares rose. A total of 138 shares were unchanged. The BSE Mid-Cap index provisionally fell 0.23%. The BSE Small-Cap index provisionally fell 0.02%. The decline in both these indices was lower than the Sensex's decline in percentage terms.
The Sensex and the Nifty, both, reversed trend after hitting their highest level in almost one week. The Sensex rose 74.92 points, or 0.3% at the day's high of 24,691.89 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 2 February 2016. The barometer index fell 420.13 points, or 1.71% at the day's low of 24,196.84 in mid-afternoon trade, its lowest level since 3 February 2016. The Nifty rose 21.85 points, or 0.29% at the day's high of 7,510.95 in mid-morning trade, its highest level since 2 February 2016. The index fell 125.90 points, or 1.68% at the day's low of 7,363.20 in mid-afternoon trade, its lowest level since 3 February 2016.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2319 crore, lower than turnover of Rs 2853.97 crore registered during the previous trading session on Friday, 5 February 2016.
In overseas stock markets, European shares fell sharply on Monday, extending the previous week's steep losses, with cyclical sectors losing ground on persistent concerns about the pace of global economic growth. Most major Asian markets remain closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. Markets in mainland China and Taiwan are closed all week. Other markets closed today include Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore. In Japan, the Nikkei Stock Average ended 1.1% higher. US stocks closed sharply lower on Friday, 5 February 2016, amid a massive drop in technology stocks and as mixed US employment data raised concerns the Federal Reserve may raise rates this year.
Trading in US index futures indicated that the Dow Jones Industrial Average could fall 176 points at the opening bell today, 8 March 2016.
Coal India fell 1.26%. Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL) fell 1.10%. Coal India on Saturday, 6 February 2016 announced that an MoU has been signed between the company and IOCL for manufacturing of bulk explosives.
Separately, IOCL during market hours today, 8 February 2016 announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday, 7 February 2016, dedicated the company's Paradip refinery to the nation. With the commissioning of Paradip refinery, IOCL Group now owns and operates 11 of India's 23 refineries.
IT shares witnessed selling pressure. TCS (down 2.75%), Infosys (down 2.55%), HCL Technologies (down 1.89%), Tech Mahindra (down 1.44%), Oracle Financial Services Software (down 0.71%), Hexaware Technologies (down 0.39%) and MindTree (down 0.09%), edged lower. Persistent Systems (up 0.30%) and MphasiS (up 1.26%), edged lower.
Wipro was down 2.51%. The company announced before trading hours today, 8 February 2016, that it has won an IT infrastructure transformation contract from the ASSA ABLOY Group, headquartered in Sweden. ASSA ABLOY is the global leader in door opening solutions. As part of the five-year agreement, Wipro will consolidate ASSA ABLOY's existing data centers in the EMEA region and implement a cloud-based service model, which will include IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) and PaaS (Platform as a Service). The deployment will leverage Wipro's BoundaryLess Data Center offering and will provide a full suite of IT infrastructure management services to ASSA ABLOY's global organisation. This solution will bring in a high level of agility, and a consumption-based IT service model powered by an user-friendly service catalog, Wipro said.
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