As per the provisional closing data, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, declined 300.17 points or 0.54% at 55,329.27. The Nifty 50 index declined 118.35 points or 0.71% at 16,450.65.
The broader market tumbled. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.91% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 1.83%.
The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 752 shares rose and 2447 shares fell. A total of 132 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
The credit rating agency, CRISIL on Wednesday, 18 August 2021, upgraded India Inc's credit quality outlook for FY22 from cautiously optimistic to positive, based on continued improvement in demand. This comes after the setbacks caused by the second wave of the Coronavirus pandemic in Q1 of FY22. Increasing vaccination coverage should also reduce the impact of the third wave if it comes, CRISIL said in a statement.
CRISIL Ratings Chief Rating Officer Subodh Rai said the outlook revision factor in strong economic growth, both domestic and global, and containment measures that are localised and less stringent compared with the first wave. This should sustain the pick-up in domestic demand even if the third wave hits. We believe that India Inc is on a high and strong footing, he said.
New Listing:
Shares of CarTrade Tech were currently trading at Rs 1,501.65 on the BSE at 15:12 IST, at a discount of 7.19% compared with the issue price of Rs 1618 per share. The stock was listed at Rs 1600 per share, at a 1.11% discount to the issue price. So far, the stock has hit a high and a low of Rs 1600 and Rs 1481.55, respectively. On the BSE, over 5.01 lakh shares of the company were traded in the counter. The initial public offer of CarTrade Tech received bids for 26.31 crore shares as against 1.29 crore shares on offer, according to stock exchange data. The issue was subscribed 20.29 times.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Auto index was down 1.48% to 9,919, falling for second trading day. The index is down 1.68% in two days.
Ashok Leyland (down 4.27%), Tata Motors (down 2.93%), TVS Motor Company Ltd (down 2.5%) Escorts (down 2.22%), Hero MotoCorp (down 2.04%) and Bosch Ltd (down 1.93%) were top losers in auto space.
Eicher Motors rose 0.21%. Shareholders of Eicher Motors have voted against the re-appointment of Siddhartha Lal as the managing director of the automobile company protesting the proposal to raise his salary by 10%. The proposals to raise Lal's salary and his re-appointment as the managing director of Eicher were clubbed and brought to vote before shareholders.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Zomato rose 1.74% after the company said that it has completed the process of acquiring minority stakes in Grofers India and Hands-on Trades for an aggregate consideration of Rs 741.04 crore. In its prospectus dated 19 July 2021, the company had informed about the definitive agreements signed with Grofers India (GIPL), Hands on Trades (HOTPL) and their parent entity Grofers International (together the "Grofer Entities") and others, in relation to acquisition of certain minority stake in GIPL and HOTPL, as well as certain rights in each of the Grofer Entities. The food delivery aggregator has acquired 3,248 compulsorily convertible preference shares and 1 equity share, representing 9.16% stake on fully diluted basis, of Grofers India (GIPL) for a cash consideration of Rs 518.21 crore.
Wipro fell 1.57%. The company on Friday announced the launch of its @now Studio in partnership with ServiceNow to support digital transformations for customers, increase innovation and develop unique industry solutions. The @now Studio is located at Wipro's Technology Center in Plano, Texas where the IT major has facility focused on developing niche capabilities in new and emerging technologies. This is Wipro's first @now Studio. The company said it has plans to launch additional studios in Europe and APMEA in the coming months.
Natco Pharma dropped 4.47% after a US District Court issued a decision in favour of Pharmacyclics, a subsidiary of Chicago-based AbbVie's Pharmacyclics LLC, the brand owner of Imbruvica in a PIV litigation involving the product. In the year 2018 NATCO and Alvogen, filed an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) with PIV certification for generic version of the product.
Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (Ujjivan SFB) slumped 19% to Rs 19.55 after Nitin Chugh resigned from the position of managing director and CEO of the bank.
Tata Elxsi fell 0.21%. Tata Elxsi collaborated with DStv Media Sales, a media sales organisation and part of MultiChoice Group, to consult and collaboratively build a vision for DStv Media Sales (DMS) that addresses challenges while positioning DMS for future growth.
KIOCL advanced 0.49%. KIOCL on Wednesday announced that it has been granted environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEF&CC) for Devadari Iron Ore Mine.
Global Markets:
US Dow Jones futures were down 93 points, indicating a weak opening in the US stock market later today.
European shares fell across the board while most Asian stocks declined as concerns over monetary policy, the delta COVID-19 variant and China's tech crackdown linger.
Tougher rules for handling user data are Beijing's latest step against big tech. State media also scrutinized liquor makers, online pharmacies and cosmetics firms. Meanwhile, China's one-year loan prime rate (LPR) and five-year LPR were both left unchanged at 3.85% and 4.65%, respectively, on Friday.
In Europe, Germany's finance minister said on Friday that the economy is on track for a lasting and strong recovery in the third quarter. There will be new growth figures for Germany out next week.
British retail sales dropped in July 2021 by 2.5% from the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The US stock markets ended mixed on Thursday as gains in technology shares were countered by selling in cyclical sectors. The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low. The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 29,000 to 348,000.
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