Markets Live: Sensex plummets 306 points; Nifty drops to 10,430

The Sensex tumbled 306 points to end at an over one-month low of 34,344.91 on heavy selling in energy and metal stocks amid weak global cues.

State-owned oil companies such as HPCL, BPCL, IOC, ONGC and OIL plunged on worries that the government may ask them to share the burden of higher petrol and diesel prices.

The 30-share BSE index opened higher at 34,656.63 and advanced to 34,668.47 in early trade. However, it slipped into the negative zone to touch a low of 34,302.89, before finally settling at 34,344.91 -- showing a loss of 306.33 points, or 0.88 per cent.

 

This is its weakest closing since April 19, when the gauge had finished at 34,427.29.

BSE sectoral indices

 

 

Similarly, the Nifty finished below the crucial 10,500 mark at 10,430.35, down 106.35 points, or 1.01 per cent. Intra-day, it shuttled between 10,417.80 and 10,533.55.

As per provisional data, foreign portfolio investors had sold shares worth a net Rs 1,651.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought equities to the tune of Rs 1,496.83 crore yesterday.

Global markets

 

Investors sold equities and raced to buy yen and government bonds from the United States and Germany on fears that setbacks to US-China trade talks would undermine increasingly fragile-looking world growth. Read more

Bullion prices

 

Gold rallied by Rs 120 to Rs 32,000 per ten gram. Silver also strengthened by Rs 300 to Rs 41,400 per kg. Read more

 

SEBI to auction Pancard properties

 

Looking to recover over Rs 7,000 crore of investors’ money, the Securities and Exchange Board of India has put up for auction luxury vehicles and properties owned by Pancard Clubs. More on this

Benchmark indices plunged nearly 1 per cent at pre-close trade on heavy selling in metal, oil & gas and realty stocks amid weak global cues. The Sensex was trading lower by 253.71 points or 0.73 per cent at 34,397.53 and the Nifty down 90.6 points or 0.86 per cent at 10,446.10.

Barring consumer durables and power, all other BSE sectoral indices were trading in the red.

 

Top five Sensex gainers were SBI, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and L&T, while the major losers were Tata Steel, ONGC, Dr Reddy's, IndusInd Bank and ITC.

 

Mining and energy conglomerate Vedanta Ltd hit an over 10-month low as protests against its copper plant in south India turned violent.

State-owned oil refiners as well as marketing companies, such as Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum , took a hit on worries that the government may ask them to share the burden of higher petrol and diesel prices.

Oil companies are down on concerns that in the next 2-3 days there will be some kind of resolution as government officials are taking stock of the situation on how to encounter rising petrol and diesel prices,” said Saurabh Jain, AVP - Research at SMC Global Securities.

Outcome of Fortis EGM

 

Fortis' shareholders had voted in favour of the removal of Brian Tempest, a director on the company's board, at an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday. Click here to read more

YES Bank recovers 66% of original claim

 

YES Bank has recovered 66 per cent of the original claim filed for Rs 325 crore after the sale of Bhushan Steel to Tata Steel under the insolvency resolution process. Read more

'Will pursue new types of financial listings'

 

Stacey Cunningham, who is set to become the first woman president of the New York Stock Exchange, has said that she would pursue new types of financial listings and work to reverse the decline of international public offerings. Click here to read more

OMCs, refiners top percentage losers on NSE

 

Oil marketing companies such as IOC, HPCL and BPCL fell as much as 4.8 per cent to 7 per cent as according to Moody’s Investors Service, state-run explorers face increasing risk of sharing fuel subsidy. More on this

Bandu’s Blockbusters

 

On April 1, four years back, piqued by the incessant jokes in the village at his expense, Bandu Barve decided he’d had enough. It was time for him to turn ‘smart’. His dead granny's voice rang in his ears — “Read the papers, Bandya, they tell you all.” Click here to read more

Hindustan Unilever: Continues to deliver

 

Hindustan Unilever reported strong numbers in the quarter ended March 2018, with domestic sales (adjusted for GST impact) growing by 16 per cent year-on-year to ₹9,003 crore and profits by 14 per cent to ₹1,351 crore. Click here to read more

Benchmark indices were trading lower on heavy selling in metal and oil & gas stocks, while mining and energy conglomerate Vedanta Ltd hit an over 10-month low as protests against its copper plant in south India turned violent.

 

The BSE index was down 73.29 points or 0.21 per cent at 34,577.95 and the NSE index down 42.05 points or 0.4 per cent at 10,494.65.

State-owned oil refiners as well as marketing companies, such as Indian Oil and Hindustan Petroleum, took a hit on worries that the government may ask them to share the burden of higher petrol and diesel prices.

 

Retail fuel prices have surged on the back of a rally in crude oil, now hovering around $80 per barrel amid production cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

“Oil companies are down on concerns that in the next 2-3 days there will be some kind of resolution as government officials are taking stock of the situation on how to encounter rising petrol and diesel prices,” said Saurabh Jain, AVP - Research at SMC Global Securities.

“I think market is anticipating that government may work out the historical formula wherein the burden is shared by all three - downstream, upstream companies and the government - which would be a whammy on the profitability for these firms,” he said.

HPCL-MRPL merger

 

Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd is hopeful of merging with or acquiring Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd before the end of the financial year 2018-2019. More on this

MOIL: Going strong - Buy

 

With the revival in the steel market globally, the prospects of the raw material industry have also turned attractive. In this light, MOIL, India’s largest manganese ore producer with about 81.47 million tonnes of reserves and resources, is poised to capitalise on the growth in India’s steel demand. Click here to read more

Show-cause notice issued to UB (Holdings)

 

NSE has issued a show-cause notice to defaulter businessman Vijay Mallya-led UB (Holdings) for delisting of its shares as trading has been suspended for a long time due to regulatory non-compliance. More on this

Cipla posts biggest intraday gain

 

The stock jumped nearly 8 per cent as the company has reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 153.25 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2018. Click here to read more

SBI jumps to 12-week high

 

Shares of State Bank of India rose more than 6 per cent to a 12-week high on Wednesday after the country's largest lender projected a recovery over the next two years following a record quarterly loss. Read more

Apollo Tyres: Taking a turn for the better - Buy

 

The stock is attractive because it trades at a discount to peers such as MRF and Balkrishna Industries. At the current price, the valuation multiple is at about 22 times its trailing 12-month consolidated earnings, in comparison with peers which trade at 29-31 times. Click here to read more

 

The Sensex and Nifty were trading flat due to heavy selling in oil & gas and metal stocks amid sustained foreign fund outflows. Also, the weakening of rupee to a fresh 16-month low and weak Asian cues dampened the domestic sentiment.

The BSE index was up 6.31 points or 0.02 per cent at 34,657.55 and the NSE index down 13 points or 0.12 per cent at 10,523.70.

Top five Sensex gainers were SBI, Tata Motors, ICICI Bank, NTPC and L&T, while the major losers were Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's, ONGC, IndusInd Bank and Adani Ports.

 

Among BSE sectoral indices, capital goods, IT, power and banking remained investors' favourite, while oil & gas and metal succumbed to heavy selling pressure.

 

Dr Reddy's Labs slumps over 3%

 

Shares of Dr Reddy's Laboratories fell as much as 3.2 per cent to Rs 1,945 on bleak Q4 show. Dr Reddy’s stock was down 16.8 per cent this year, as of Tuesday's close. More on this

Vedanta nosedives 5.5%

 

Shares of Vedanta plummeted as protests against copper smelter plant turned violent. The stock plunged as much as 5.5 per cent to Rs 255.1, its lowest since July 5, 2017. Click here to read more

Crude oil edges down

 

Oil prices edged lower with the possibility of higher OPEC output weighing on the market, although geopolitical risks are expected to keep prices near multi-year highs. More on this

Dollar inches higher

 

The dollar index against a basket of six major peers rose 0.1 per cent to 93.670. The dollar index has pulled back since hitting a five-month high of 94.058 on Monday. Click here to read more

Woman to lead NYSE

 

The New York Stock Exchange for the first time in its 226-year history will be led by a woman. Stacey Cunningham, who started her career as a floor clerk on the NYSE trading floor, will become the 67th president of the Big Board. Click here to read more

Dewan Housing NCD issue

 

The ₹12,000-crore NCD issue of Dewan Housing Finance Corporation had received a strong demand on Tuesday, its opening day, with the base size of ₹3,000 crore subscribed fully. Read more

Rupee slumps to fresh 16-month low

 

The rupee declined 25 paise to hit a fresh 16-month low of 68.29 per dollar in early trade ahead of the minutes of US Federal Reserve’s last policy meet scheduled to be released later in the day. Click here to read more

Nikkei falls to 1-1/2-week low

 

Japan's Nikkei share average fell to a 1-1/2-week low after US President Donald Trump stoked uncertainty over the outcome of US-China trade talks, while a stronger yen hurt exporters. More on this

The Sensex fell over 120 points on heavy selling in oil & gas and metal stocks amid sustained foreign fund outflows. Domestic sentiment was hit as the rupee slumped to fresh 16-month low against the dollar.

 

Brokers said the sentiment remained weak in the absence of any positive trigger amid sustained capital outflows.

The BSE index was down  123.09 points or 0.36 per cent at 34,528.15 and the NSE index down 45.75 points or 0.43 per cent at 10,490.95.

Among BSE sectoral indices, oil & gas fell the most by 2.18 per cent, followed by metal 2.02 per cent, auto 0.37 per cent and consumer durables 0.18 per cent.

 

Top five Sensex gainers were State Bank of India, Tata Motors, NTPC, Sun Pharma and PowerGrid, while the major losers were Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's, Adani Ports and ONGC.

 

Asian shares were down as US President Donald Trump had said on Tuesday that he was not satisfied with the bilateral trade talks with China that occurred last week.

Meanwhile, China had announced on Tuesday that it would reduce tariffs on some vehicles to 15 per cent from as much as 25 per cent. Tariffs on certain automotive parts would also be cut.

As per provisional data, foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 1,651.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,496.83 crore yesterday.

Asian markets

 

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.15 per cent while Japan's Nikkei lost 0.2 per cent. On Wall Street, the S&P 500 shed 0.31 per cent overnight, losing steam after hitting a two-month high. Click here to read more

UltraTech-Century Textiles deal

 

Most analysts welcome UltraTech Cement’s decision to acquire the cement business of BK Birla Group company Century Textiles and Industries through a share swap deal. Read more

2:1 bonus from Minda Industries

The board of directors of Minda Industries has recommended issue of bonus shares to the shareholders of the company in the ratio of two shares of ₹2 each fully paid-up for every one share held. More on this

Broker's call

KEC Intl (Buy)

CMP: ₹371.85

Target: ₹450

Click here to read more

Day Trading Guide

Given below are supports and resistances for Nifty 50 futures and seven key stocks that can help in your intra-day trading:

₹1991 • HDFC Bank

 

₹1193 • Infosys

 

₹278 • ITC

 

Click here to view the full guide

 

The 30-share BSE index opened up by 15.33 points at 34,666.57 against Tuesday's close of 34,651.24 and the 50-share NSE index down 8.05 points at 10,528.65 against 10,536.70.

Today's stock pick

Kiri Industries (₹453.6): Buy

 

The short-term outlook is bullish for the stock. It can extend its upmove and reach the price targets of ₹472 and ₹482 in the forthcoming trading sessions. Traders can buy the stock with stop-loss at ₹443.5. Click here to read more