Market Live: Sensex declines over 300 pts, Infosys falls 9%; pharma cracks

Fri Aug 18 2017
Rajesh Sharma (2045 articles)
Market Live: Sensex declines over 300 pts, Infosys falls 9%; pharma cracks

1:10 pm Market Check: Selling pressure on the market dominated for the larger part of the trading session so far, dragged largely by a fall in Infosys due to the exit of Vishal Sikka as its MD and CEO.

The Sensex was down 397.20 points or 1.25% at 31398.26, while the Nifty was down 108.60 points or 1.10% at 9795.55. The market breadth was negative as 628 shares advanced against a decline of 1,669 shares, while 113 shares were unchanged.

TCS, HUL, Bharti Infratel and BPCL gained the most on both indices, while Infosys, Sun Pharma, and Zee Entertainment were the top losers.

According to a CNBC-TV18 alert, the fall in Infosys contributed to almost 65 percent to the Nifty’s losses, while the stock collectively eroded market cap worth Rs 27,000 crore.

12:40 pm Expert Speak: VK Sharma, Head – Private Client Group, HDFC Securities said this in a statement.

“Sikka’s exit draws a long drawn out board room battle to a close. While the company did better than the industry during Sikka’s tenure, it was no where near achieving Sikka’s own $ 20 bn target by 2020. The forthcoming buy back may belay the stock from falling more. Sikka’s allegation that he was continuously being distracted does not wash as he had long enough a honeymoon period to make his mark.”

12:28 pm Infosys’ m-cap tanks: The fall in Infosys’ stock has led to a steep fall in the market capitalisation of the company. It fell over Rs 16,600 crore on the back of the fall in the stock.

As of closing price on Thursday, Infosys had a market cap at Rs 2,34,554.78 crore. Meanwhile, this figure came down to Rs 2,17,924.74 crore.

12:20 pm Market Check: Indices continued to trade lower in the afternoon session, with the Nifty firmly trading below 9850.

The Sensex was down 301.30 points at 31494.16, while the Nifty was down 82.05 points at 9822.10. The market breadth was negative as 740 shares advanced against a decline of 1,498 shares, while 94 shares were unchanged.

ITC, TCS, BPCL and Bharti Infratel gained the most on both indices, while

Among global markets, European stocks were set to open sharply lower on Friday morning as investors reacted to Spain’s worst terror attack in more than 13 years.

The FTSE 100 is seen 48 points lower at 7,345; the DAX is expected to open down by 84 points at 12,123 and the CAC 40 is set to open 39 points lower at 5,110.

11:55 am FII View: Small correction can be possible but the major fall is unlikely in the market as it has strong liquidity support (from FIIs as well as DIIs), Inderjeet Bhatia of Macquarie Research said.

He is not worried if the market corrects 3-5 percent from hereon, especially after more than 20 percent rally since the beginning of current calendar year.

He advised buying on every correction as fundamentals of the economy are strong and earnings recovery will start from second half of FY18 and will be strong in next financial year.

11:38 am Management Speak: The government has capped prices of orthopedic knee implants at a significantly lower rate than current market rates.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Suneeta Reddy, Joint MD of Apollo Hospitals Enterprises spoke about the latest happenings in her company and sector.

Capping the prices of orthopedic knee implants at lower rate is feasible, she said.

Whatever is happening with the stent or the knee is not going to impact the profitability of the entire hospital significantly, she added.

11:15 am Market Check: The decline in benchmark indices halted in the previous session, Sensex and Nifty steadying at lower levels.

The Sensex was down 243.16 points at 31552.30, while the Nifty was down 61.65 points at 9842.50. The market breadth was negative as 717 shares have advanced, 1322 shares declined, and 102 shares are unchanged.

10:37 am Infosys stock trends: Shares of Infosys have taken a beating on the back of the development around Vishal Sikka. A look at the stock’s movement in the past three years between August 1, 2014 and August 18, 2017, it has moved up 22 percent. Take a look at the chart below.

infy stock

10:15 am Market Check: Weakness in the market continued in the first hour of trade, as the Street digested news of Infosys MD & CEO Vishal Sikka stepping down with immediate effect.

Frontline indices were in the red, but ex-Infosys reaction, the Street’s performance was steady.

At 10:13 hrs, the Sensex was down 219.85 points at 31575.61, while the Nifty was down 57.50 points at 9846.65. The market breadth was negative as 574 shares advanced against a decline of 1,274 shares, while 67 shares were unchanged.

Among the broader markets, midcaps and smallcaps saw corrective pressure as Nifty midcap fell over half a percent, while BSE mid and smallcap index fell between 0.2 and 0.5 percent. The Nifty IT index was lower by over half a percent.

TCS, ITC, and Bharti Infratel were the top gainers on both indices, while Infosys, Sun Pharma and Zee Entertainment lost the most.

Read all about the news and developments surrounding Infosys CEO and MD in our live blog here

9:45 am Currency update: The Indian rupee opened marginally lower at 64.18 per dollar on Friday versus 64.15 Wednesday.

Bhaskar Panda of HDFC Bank said, “Dollar index bounced on the basis of European Central Bank (ECB) concerns on euro strength. The USD-INR pair consequently could move a little higher keeping pace with other Asian currencies. We expect a range of 64.15-64.40 for the day.”

He further added, “The 10-year benchmark yield is expected to trade within the 6.52-6.54 percent range today.”

Also Read: Hit by slowing growth and automation, IT industry has started sacking freshers

9:30 am Infosys declines post Sikka’s news: Infosys slipped as much as 6.09 percent in morning trade on Friday after the board of directors of Infosys Ltd said that they have accepted the notice of resignation of Dr. Vishal Sikka as the Managing Director and CEO, effective immediately.

Mr. U. B. Pravin Rao has been appointed Interim Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director reporting to Dr. Sikka under the overall supervision and control of the Company’s Board.

In his notice of resignation to the Board, Dr. Sikka reiterated his belief in the great potential of Infosys, but cited among his reasons for leaving a continuous stream of distractions and disruptions over the recent months and quarters, increasingly personal and negative as of late, as preventing management’s ability to accelerate the Company’s transformation.

9:15 am Market Opens: After consecutive sessions of positive movements in the ongoing week, benchmark indices witnessed a gap-down opening, dragged by weak movements on Infosys on the back of developments in the top management exit.

At 09:18 hrs, the Sensex was down 210.84 points at 31584.62, while the Nifty was down 62.20 points at 9841.95. The market breadth was negative as 209 shares advanced against a decline of 742 shares, while 34 shares were unchanged.

ITC, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Bharti Infratel and UltraTech Cement gained the most on both indices, while Infosys, State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda were the top losers.

Among global markets, Asia markets were pressured in early Friday trade after investors on Wall Street sold off on growing uncertainty over the Trump administration’s ability to follow through on its economic policies.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 1.31 percent as risk off trade from the US session followed through into the Asian trading day. Across the Korean strait, the Kospi declined 0.81 percent.

Meanwhile, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tumbled 1.10 percent, driven by broad-based losses across all sub-indexes barring the health care sector. The heavily-weighted financials sub-index recorded a 1.59 percent fall.

US stocks sold off on Thursday, with the S&P 500 recording its biggest daily percentage drop in three months as escalating worries about the Trump administration’s ability to push through its economic agenda rattled investors.

The benchmark index also closed at its lowest since July 11, with the day’s move marking the first time since the November 8 election of two days with more than 1 percent declines so close together. The index dropped 1.4 percent last Thursday, as concern over a possible conflict between the United States and North Korea hit the market.
The falls mark a break from a period of low volatility and subdued moves. The S&P 500 has had just four 1 percent declines this year.

Rajesh Sharma

Rajesh Sharma

Rajesh Sharma is Correspondent for Stock Market of South East Asia based in Mumbai. He has been covering Asian markets for more than 5 years.