Market Live: Nifty opens below 9100, Sensex lower; Coal India, Aurobindo Pharma drag
10:15 am EMA suspends drug: Sources told CNBC-TV18 that European Medicines Agency has recommended to Strides Shasun for suspension of only one drug in five countries. Drug recommended for suspension by EMA is still not commercialised.
The stock was quoting at Rs 1,114.50, down Rs 24.20, or 2.13 percent on the BSE.
10:05 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning, with the Sensex falling over 100 points, weighed by index heavyweights Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC Bank.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 133.47 points at 29,287.93 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 45.85 points to 9,062.15.
The market breadth was balanced as about 1025 shares advanced against 1004 declining shares on the BSE.
Reliance Industries, ITC, Tata Steel, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and Tata Motors were down 1-2 percent followed by HDFC Bank whereas SBI and HUL were gainers.
Adrian Mowat of JPMorgan says India remains the highest net overweight market in emerging markets. Net overweights in India increased to 23 from 20 and the median fund overweight in India increased by 20 bps.
9:50 am GST Bill: The government is likely to table supplementary goods and services tax legislations in Parliament today. Sources said C-GST, I-GST, UT-GST and the compensation law are likely to be introduced in the Lok Sabha today and could be taken up for discussion as early as March 28.
Also, amendments to the excise and Customs Act to abolish various cess as well as furnishing Bills for exports and imports under the new GST regime will be placed before the House.
According to the sources, the government is looking at passage of the GST Bills in the Lower House by March 29 or latest by March 30.
9:40 am FII View: The bulls market which started in the month of November after Donald Trump became the 45th US President may take a breather after Republicans pulled the legislation to overhaul the US healthcare system. But that doesn’t mean the tax agenda is dead, Ken Peng, Asia Pacific Investment strategist at Citi Private Bank said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.
“The setback for the Healthcare Bill doesn’t mean the Tax Reform agenda is ‘Dead’. It now puts more emphasis on tax reforms, in that line of thought; overall global recovery is still there and corporate earnings are likely to grow,” he said.
Peng further added that setback from the Healthcare Bill is not a trend reversal but a correction that could extend up to 5-10 percent in US markets; but emerging markets like India and China are likely to do well.
9:28 am NPA resolution likely?: To deal with mounting bad loans afflicting banks, the government is likely to come out with a set of measures for faster resolution of non-performing assets within a fortnight.
“Policy is being given final touches. It should be announced by the month-end or early next month,” a senior finance ministry official said.
Broadly, the policy should contain the processes relating to haircut and one-time settlement to be carried out by banks for faster resolution of high-value cases, the official said, adding that the big loan defaults constitute about 70 per cent of the total NPAs.
This will provide a clear direction on the NPA front and the government will be able to take the bull by horns, the official said.
Also read – Buy, Sell, Hold: Which stocks and sectors are analysts watching today?
9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks started off Monday’s trade on a negative note, tracking weakness in Asian peers.
The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 81.81 points at 29,339.59 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 27.45 points to 9,080.55. About 620 shares advanced against 381 declining shares on the BSE.
Coal India and Aurobindo Pharma were top losers, down 2-3 percent followed by Reliance Industries, ITC, Hero Motocorp, Sun Pharma, Idea Cellular and Eicher Motors.
However, ICICI Bank, Grasim Industries, Power Grid Corporation, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Bajaj Auto, SBI and GAIL were gainers.
The Indian rupee gained in the early trade. It has opened higher by 14 paise at 65.28 per dollar versus 65.42 Friday.
Pramit Brahmbhatt of Veracity said, “Considering 10-year bond as well as equity market movement, we are of the view that rupee will trade sideways in a range of 65.20-65.50/dollar.”
The US dollar took a spill in early Asian trade as investors in the region fretted about the chances of US fiscal stimulus following the defeat of President Donald Trump’s healthcare package.
Asia markets were mostly lower after US President Donald Trump suffered a legislative defeat last Friday when Republican leaders pulled a bill to overhaul the US health care system with the dollar weaker and gold prices up.
