Key indices hit fresh intraday low in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:24 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 226.03 points or 0.68% at 32,949.97. The Nifty 50 index lost 84 points or 0.82% at 10,111.15. The Sensex slipped below the psychological 33,000 level in afternoon trade. Shares of real estate companies tumbled.
Weak global cues ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy decision later in the week, influenced trading sentiments on domestic bourses. A sharp widening of current account deficit (CAD) too weighed on investors' mood.
After opening higher, key indices slipped into negative terrain in morning trade. Indices extended losses and hit fresh intraday lows in afternoon trade. The Sensex rose 99.79 points, or 0.30% at the day's high of 33,275.79 in early trade. The index fell 269.57 points, or 0.81% at the day's low of 32,906.43 in mid-afternoon trade, its lowest level since 18 December 2017. The Nifty rose 29.40 points, or 0.29% at the day's high of 10,224.55 in early trade. The index fell 100.75 points, or 0.99% at the day's low of 10,094.40 in mid-afternoon trade, its lowest level since 18 December 2017.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index declined 1.62%. The BSE Small-Cap index dropped 2.02%. Both these indices underperformed the Sensex.
The broad market depicted weakness. There were more than four losers against every gainer on BSE. 2,215 shares declined and 483 shares advanced. A total of 127 shares were unchanged.
Realty shares declined. Peninsula Land (down 7.06%), DLF (down 5.19%), Parsvnath Developers (down 4.76%), Indiabulls Real Estate (down 4.43%), Unitech (down 4.4%), Housing Development and Infrastructure (HDIL) (down 3.94%), Oberoi Realty (down 3.71%), Anant Raj (down 3.42%), Mahindra Lifespace Developers (down 1.38%), Godrej Properties (down 1.17%), Sobha (down 1.14%), Phoenix Mills (down 0.34%), Omaxe (down 0.29%) and Sunteck Realty (down 0.26%), edged lower. Prestige Estates Projects was up 0.60%.
D B Realty was down 4.96%. The company said that its wholly owned subsidiary Real Gem Buildtech arrived at an arrangement with and entered into a development management agreement with Kingmaker Developers, a Group of Rustomjee (a subsidiary of Keystone Realtors) for the development management of real estate project at DB Crown, Situated at Gokhale Road, Prabhadevi, Mumbai. The arrangement is subject to approval of the lender, who has extended financial facilities for the execution of the project, the company said. The announcement was made on Sunday, 18 March 2018.
Power generation stocks fell. Jaiprakash Power Ventures (down 7.83%), Adani Power (down 4.2%), CESC (down 3.93%), Torrent Power (down 3.86%), JSW Energy (down 2.5%), Reliance Power (down 2.42%), GMR Infrastructure (down 1.4%), Reliance Infrastructure (down 1.3%), NHPC (down 1.13%) and Tata Power (down 1%), edged lower. NTPC was up 0.82%.
State-run Coal India was down 2.51%. State-run Power Grid Corporation of India was up 1.43%.
On the macro front, India's current account deficit (CAD) was reported at $13.5 billion (2% of GDP) in Q3 of FY 2018, up from $8 billion (1.4% of GDP) in Q3 of FY 2017 and $7.2 billion (1.1% of GDP) in the preceding quarter. The widening of the CAD on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis was primarily on account of a higher trade deficit ($44.1 billion) brought about by a larger increase in merchandise imports relative to exports.
On the political front, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Yuvajana Shramika Rythu Congress Party (YSR Congress) moved no-confidence motions against the Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha today. However, no-confidence motion was not introduced, and Lok Sabha was adjourned till tomorrow after continuous uproar.
The Lok Sabha was held up for the 11th day as the TDP, YSR Congress, TRS and AIADMK continued their protests over various issues, including the banking scam and special status for Andhra Pradesh. The lawmakers from these parties trooped into the well holding placards. TDP, the BJP's erstwhile biggest ally in south which walked out of the NDA last week, and its arch-rival YSR Congress have demanded a no trust vote against the government.
The Rajya Sabha was adjourned for the day without transacting any business after parties from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh disrupted proceedings over their state specific demands. The government has only managed to get some key bills and the budget passed amid a din through a voice vote without a debate as the session has been a virtual washout so far.
Overseas, European and Asian stocks edged lower as caution gripped investors ahead of the US Federal Reserve policy meeting later in the week. US stocks ended modestly higher on Friday, 16 March 2018, with the S&P 500 breaking a four-day losing streak.
The US Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting is scheduled on March 20-21. Strengthening labor market and a steady increase in price pressures could pave the way for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates in upcoming meeting. The US central bank has forecast three rate increases for this year, but there are also expectations that it will raise its projection to four hikes at the meeting.
Among economic data, US industrial production jumped 1.1% in February, the largest increase in four months. In a separate report, the Commerce Department said housing starts declined 7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.236 million units in February. Further, the University of Michigan consumer-sentiment index rose to 102 in March from 99.7 in February.
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