Sensex plunges 500 points as rupee woes, trade war fears spook investors
MONDAY BLUES Markets nosedive despite the government announcing measures to stem the rupee’s decline MUMBAI: THE INDIAN CURRENCY ONCE AGAIN BREACHED THE 72MARK TO HIT AN INTRADAY LOW OF 72.69 AGAINST THE US DOLLAR
The BSE benchmark Sensex Monday crashed over 505 points to slip below the 38,000-level, snapping its two sessions of gains, as rupee woes and global trade war worries spooked investors despite the government announcing measures to stem a steep fall in the domestic currency.
The broader Nifty too nosedived over 137 points to end below the 11,400-mark.
Financials, led by HDFC twins HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank, emerged as the biggest draggers of the session, pulling down the key indices from their key levels. Subdued Asian and European markets due to escalating trade war between the US and China mainly led to a caution on domestic bourses.
The government Friday announced an array of steps, including removal of withholding tax on Masala bonds, relaxation for FPIs and curbs on nonessential imports to contain the widening CAD and check the rupee fall.
The Indian currency once again breached the 72-mark to hit a low of 72.69 (intra-day) against the US dollar.
“The news of possibility of further escalation of trade war between the US and China didn’t go well with the markets. Also, weakness in rupee further dented the sentiment. Mostly sectoral indices traded in line with the benchmark index and closed lower. Markets are currently dancing to the global tunes and we do not see this changing any time soon...” an analyst commented.
The BSE 30-share barometer, after a lower start at 38,027.81, quickly cracked the 38,000-mark to hit a low of 37,548.93 on across-the-board selling in recent gainers and finally settled 505.13 points, or 1.33%, down at 37,585.51.
The market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies dropped Monday by over ₹1,14,676 crore. The gauge had gained 677.51 points in the previous two sessions.
The NSE Nifty hit a low of 11,366.90 and finally ended 137.45 points, or 1.19%, down at 11,377.75. Meanwhile, on a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth ₹1,090.56 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of ₹115.14 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.
In the banking space, prominent losers were HDFC Bank 1.81%, SBI 1.65%, Axis Bank 1.60%, Yes Bank 1.39%, ICICI Bank 0.82% and Kotak Bank 0.61%.
Higher crude oil prices in global markets too weighed on the sentiments here. International benchmark Brent rose 0.65% to quote at $78.60 a barrel, while WTI crude was up 0.71% at $69.48 a barrel.
Investor sentiment also hurt on reports that global financial services company Goldman Sachs said India’s world-beating stock market run is over.
Among the Sensex pack, Sun Pharma was the biggest loser, tumbling by 2.85%, followed by HDFC Ltd 2.47%.
Other laggards included Tata Motors 2.35%, RIL 2.12%, Asian Paints 1.93%, Hero MotoCorp 1.72%, ITC 1.65%, HUL 1.60%, Infosys 1.18%, Maruti Suzuki 1.15%, NTPC 1.14%, L&T 1.08%, Bajaj Auto 0.94%, Coal India 0.83%, ONGC 0.67%, Vedanta 0.36%, M&M 0.35%, Bharti Airtel 0.33% and Wipro 0.30%.
In contrast, PowerGrid stock was the top gainer in the Sensex kitty, surging 0.70%, followed by TCS 0.40%, Adani Ports 0.37% and Tata Steel 0.05%.
Among sectoral indices, the BSE finance index emerged the worst performer by declining 1.44%, followed by energy 1.30%, consumer durables 1.25%, FMCG 1.20%, bankex 1.08%, healthcare 1.08%, auto 1%, capital goods 0.67%, metal 0.29%, PSU 0.25%, oil & gas 0.21%, teck 0.18% and IT 0.13%. While, realty, power and infrastructure sector indices rose by up to 1.36%.
A similar trend emerged in the broader markets, as the midcap index fell by 0.76%, while small-cap index fell 0.05%.
Overseas, Asian stocks ended lower on renewed fears of escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies. In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.28%, while Shanghai Composite Index edged lower by 1.11%. Financial markets in Japan were shut Monday on account of a public holiday. In the Eurozone, Paris CAC 40 fell 0.26% and Frankfurt’s DAX was down 0.36% in their late deals. London’s FTSE too shed 0.30%.
Oil regulator PNGRB Monday declared the final list of winners of city gas retailing licences that had billionaire Gautam Adani’s group, state-owned Indian Oil Corp. (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) and Torrent Gas as the big winners.
Adani Gas won rights to retail CNG to automobiles and piped cooking gas to households and industries in 13 cities on its own and another nine, including Allahabad, in a joint venture with IOC, according to results of 84 cities that were bid out in the country’s biggest city gas distribution (CGD) bid round.
According to the list of winners put out by Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), IOC on its own won rights to seven cities, including Coimbatore and Salem in Tamil Nadu and Guna in Madhya Pradesh. Bharat Gas Resources Ltd, a unit of state-owned BPCL, won a licence for 11 cities like Amethi and Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Ahmednagar in Maharashtra, while Torrent Gas Pvt Ltd made 10 winning bids that included ones for Chennai, Alwar in Rajasthan, Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh and Karaikal in Puducherry. State gas utility GAIL’s retailing arm, GAIL Gas, managed rights for five cities, including Dehradun.
NEW DELHI: