Key benchmarks hit fresh intraday low in morning trade as selling pressure intensified amid weak global cues. At 10:22 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 607.54 points or 1.70% at 35,065.71. The Nifty 50 index was down 184.50 points or 1.73% at 10,509.20. The Nifty was trading a tad above 10,500 mark.
Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index was down 1.69%. The BSE Small-Cap index was down 1.81%.
The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was weak. On BSE, 350 shares rose and 1594 shares fell. A total of 79 shares were unchanged.
Metal shares fell across the board. Jindal Steel & Power (down 3.09%), Steel Authority of India (down 2.05%), JSW Steel (down 1.85%), Hindustan Copper (down 1.82%), Vedanta (down 1.63%), National Aluminium Company (down 1.58%), NMDC (down 1.36%), Hindustan Zinc (down 1.27%), Hindalco Industries (down 1.19%) and Tata Steel (down 0.73%), edged lower.
Auto shares declined. Ashok Leyland (down 2%), Tata Motors (down 1.82%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.64%), Eicher Motors (down 1.55%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.24%), Bajaj Auto (down 1.22%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.78%) and TVS Motor Company (down 0.6%), edged lower.
Escorts was down 3.08%. The company has executed the Business Transfer Agreement for transferring the existing RT Crane Business of the company as a going concern on a slump sale basis to the JV for an amount not exceeding Rs 35 crore. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 7 December 2018.
On the economic front, India's current account deficit (CAD) increased to US$ 19.1 billion (2.9% of GDP) in Q2 of 2018-19 increased from US$ 6.9 billion (1.1% of GDP) in Q2 of 2017-18 and US$ 15.9 billion (2.4% 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 at US$ 50.0 billion as compared with US$ 32.5 billion a year ago.
On the political front, market participants are awaiting poll results of five state elections due on 11 December 2018. The outcomes of the assembly elections will likely set the tone for the general elections next year. Voting in Rajasthan and Telangana took place on 7 December 2018. Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram were held on 28 November 2018. The election in Chhattisgarh Assembly was held in two phases on 12 and 20 November 2018. The counting of votes in all the states will be done on 11 December 2018.
Overseas, Asian shares traded lower Monday following weaker-than-expected Chinese trade data released over the weekend.
China's November exports only rose 5.4% from a year earlier, Chinese customs data showed on Saturday. The customs data showed that annual growth for exports to all of China's major partners slowed significantly. Exports to the United States rose 9.8% in November from a year earlier, compared with 13.2% in October. Import growth was 3%, the slowest since October 2016. Imports of iron ore fell for a second time, reflecting waning restocking demand at steel-mills as profit margins narrow.
US stocks closed sharply lower on Friday as a lack of concrete progress toward reducing US-China trade tensions bolstered risk-off sentiment and overshadowed the November employment report.
Nonfarm payrolls increased by 155,000 for the month while the unemployment rate again held at 3.7%, its lowest since 1969, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Meanwhile, the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index came in at 97.5. Further, consumer credit grew at its fastest pace in 11 months in October, the Federal Reserve reported.
Oil producer club OPEC and some non-affiliated producers agreed a supply cut of 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January. Despite this, the outlook for next year remains muted on the back of an economic slowdown. International Brent crude oil futures were at $62.10 per barrel, up 43 cents.
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