Market Live: Sensex extends losses, Nifty trades below 10,100; Bharat Forge gains

10:05 am Buzzing: Bharat Forge shares gained more than 3 percent in morning after strong trend continued in North America class 8 truck orders in November.

North America class 8 truck orders for the November month were at 32,387 units, a massive growth of 68 percent over 19,285 units in year-ago.

The reason for strong leap in truck and tractor sales was US economic growth that has been topping 3 percent for last two quarters.

However, month-on-month basis, class 8 truck orders declined 9 percent from 35,700 units in October.

North American business contributes 40 percent to company’s total revenue.

Here are the top headlines at 10 am from Moneycontrol News’ Anchal Pathak

9:52 am Rupee Update: The rupee strengthened by 12 paise to 64.25 against the dollar at the interbank forex market today on increased selling of the American currency by banks and exporters.

The dollar losing sheen against some other currencies overseas also supported the local unit, traders said.

Yesterday, the rupee had rebounded by 9 paise to end at 64.37 against the US dollar in a highly volatile trade on fresh selling of the greenback and also emboldened by encouraging Q2 GDP numbers and monthly manufacturing data.

9:40 am Market Check: Benchmark indices extended losses in morning ahead of major events – RBI policy meet tomorrow, mid-term review of foreign trade policy due later today and Gujarat elections on Saturday.

Cut in economic growth forecast for FY18 to 6.7 percent (from 6.9 percent earlier) by Fitch Ratings also dampened sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 151.76 points at 32,717.96 and the 50-share NSE Nifty fell 42.90 points to 10,084.90.

More than two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Bharat Forge shares gained 2.6 percent on strong trend North America class 8 truck orders.

9:33 am Pledged Shares: The value of shares pledged by the promoters of BSE-listed companies marginally dropped to Rs 2.78 lakh crore at the end of November, according to the exchange data.

The value of pledged shares stood at Rs 2.81 lakh crore at the end of October. It was at Rs 2.6 lakh crore in September.

Till November this year, pledging of shares was seen in as many as 3,005 out of 5,148 BSE-listed companies.

Share pledging is typically done by promoters to raise funds either for the same company or for financing other projects.

9:25 am IPO Opens: Ahmedabad-headquartered Shalby, the operator of chain of multi-specialty hospitals, has opened its initial public offering for subscription today, with a price band of Rs 245-248 per share.

The issue will close on December 7.

ALSO READ: Shalby garners Rs 150 crore from anchor investors

The public offer comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs 480 crore and an offer for sale of up to 10,00,000 equity shares by Dr Vikram Shah.

The offer comprises a reservation of up to 1,21,000 shares for subscription by eligible employees.

Bids can be made for a minimum lot of 60 equity shares and in multiples of 60 equity shares thereafter.

The fresh issue proceeds would be used for repayment certain loans (Rs 300 crore); purchase of medical equipments (Rs 63.58 crore); purchase of interiors, furniture, and allied infrastructure for upcoming hospitals (Rs 11.18 crore); and general corporate purposes.

9:20 am Economic Growth: Days after India’s economy showed signs of recovery, Fitch Ratings cut the country’s GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal to 6.7 percent from the earlier projected 6.9 percent, saying the rebound was weaker than expected.

It also cut GDP growth forecast for 2018-19 fiscal year to 7.3 percent from 7.4 percent predicted in its September Global Economic Outlook (GEO).

Fitch, however, expects GDP growth to pick up in the next two years on the back of gradual implementation of the structural reform agenda and higher real disposable income.

“The Indian economy picked up in Q317 (July-September), with GDP growing by 6.3 percent year-on-year, up from 5.7 percent in 2Q17.

“However, the rebound was weaker than we expected, and we have reduced our growth forecast for the fiscal year to end-March 2018 (FY18) to 6.7 percent from 6.9 percent in the September GEO,” Fitch said in its latest GEO.

9:15 am Market Check: Equity benchmarks opened mildly lower on Tuesday following tepid Asian cues. Investors remained cautious ahead of mid-term review of foreign trade policy due later today and RBI policy tomorrow.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 68.74 points at 32,800.98 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 19.30 points to 10,108.50.

Wipro, NTPC, IOC, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, ONGC, L&T and HDFC Bank were early losers while Bosch, Bharti Airtel, HPCL, BPCL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Motors, M&M and Maruti Suzuki were gainers.

Nifty Midcap was down 0.2 percent.

Future Retail, Ashok Leyland, Reliance Communications and Jaiprakash Associates fell 1-5 percent.
Bharat Forge and Transformers and Rectifiers gained 2-4 percent.