Market Live: Sensex opens over 100 pts lower, Nifty around 10,350; IT continues to gain

Thu Feb 22 2018
Rajesh Sharma (2045 articles)
Market Live: Sensex opens over 100 pts lower, Nifty around 10,350; IT continues to gain

10:25 am Mutual Fund news: DSP BlackRock Mutual Fund has added two additional payment dates under its systematic investment facility applicable for all open-ended schemes, the fund house said in a newspaper notice.

The unit holders will be able to pay their installments on 5th and 20th of every month, in addition to the existing dates.

10:10 am Buzzing Stock: Shares of Bajaj Finserv, Grasim Industries and Titan Company rose more than 1 percent intraday Thursday as they were included in Nifty 50 index.

Meanwhile, shares of Ambuja Cements, Aurobindo Pharma and Bosch slipped 1-2.5 percent as they were excluded from the Nifty 50 index

The changes were announced by India Index Services and Products, an arm of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) as part of its periodic review.

9:47 am Market Outlook: In an interview to CNBC-TV18, from the sideline of the IIFL Enterprising India Conference, Ashutosh Datar, Equity Strategist at IIFL Institutional Equities shared his views and readings on the market.

Datar said that focus should be on companies where earnings momentum is strong.

He further said that there are opportunities to buy and be underweight in financial sector.

9:39 am Allahabad Bank declines: Shares of Allahabad Bank lost over 3 percent intraday on Thursday as investors reacted to its announcement of exposure to Rotomac Group.

In a filing to exchanges, the public sector bank declared that it has exposure of over Rs 500 crore to the group. Further, it clarified that the said amount has been declared as a non-performing asset (NPA) and the required provision has been made.

It also informed that some accounts have been filed under National Company Law Tribunal as well.

9:29 am Expert view: In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Richard Harris, Chief Executive at Port Shelter Investment Management shared his views and readings on the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes and emerging markets.

Harries said that the FOMC minutes does not tell anything new.

Talking about dollar, he said dollar and US treasury yields rising in tandem is a temporary feature.

9:15 am Market Opens: Benchmark indices began the day on a negative note, with the Sensex cracking over 100 points. The Nifty was trading below 10,350-mark.

The Sensex is currently down 117.85 points or 0.35% at 33727.01, and the Nifty is down 52.95 points or 0.51% at 10344.50. The market breadth favours the decline as 192 shares advanced, against a decline of 329 shares , while 91 shares are unchanged.

All sectoral indices are trading in the red, while midcaps are also trading weak. Nifty PSU bank index is down over 1 percent.

Wipro, Bajaj Auto and Kotak Mahindra Bank are the top gainers, while ONGC, BPCL, Aurobindo Pharma and SBI have lost the most.

The Indian rupee declined in the early trade on Thursday. It has opened lower by 29 paise at 65.05 per dollar versus 64.76 Wednesday.

Mohan Shenoi of Kotak Mahindra Bank said, “US FOMC minutes caused market volatility with US treasury yields touching a new high, US stock markets reversing early gains and dollar strengthening further.”

“Recent negative developments in Indian banking sector has put pressure on the rupee. The USD-INR is expected to trade in a range of 64.75-65.05 for the day.”

Among global markets, Asian shares slipped as the risk of faster hikes in U.S interest rates lifted short-term Treasury yields to the highest in almost a decade and boosted the dollar.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan eased 0.35 percent in early trade, while E-Mini futures for the S&P 500 lost 0.2 percent.

Japan’s Nikkei shed 1 percent even as the yen gave back some of its recent gains on the dollar.

US stocks closed lower on Wednesday in a rocky session after the release of the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s January meeting pushed yields on the benchmark 10-year U. Treasury note to a four-year high.

After the Fed left interest rates unchanged in January, minutes showed the US central bank’s rate-setting committee grew more confident in the need to keep raising rates, with most believing inflation would perk up amid an improving economic landscape.

Stocks initially reacted positively, with each of the major Wall Street indexes touching session highs. Stocks began to pare gains, however, as bond yields climbed to a four-year high of 2.957 percent on the likelihood of further rate increases 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.