The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty extended losses following further fall in rupee. Asian markets too slip further; Nikkei 225 Average tanked over 2% as yesterday Fitch downgraded Japan to A+ from AA due to growing risk of high public debt. Hang Seng, Straits Times, Kospi and Taiwan were down 1.2-1.75% while Shanghai declined 0.76%.
The Indian rupee was moving towards 56 a dollar; it dropped 49 paise to 54.88 a dollar. Neeraj Gambhir, Managing Director and Co-Head of Fixed Income India, Nomura feels the global sentiment is impacting quite a lot. "It's very difficult right now to say where this will pause and what will it take to pause this," he says.
The BSE benchmark fell 152 points or 0.95% to 15,874 led by 27 components. Meanwhile, the NSE benchmark went down 48 points or 0.98% to 4,813.
Listen to the accompanying audio for the mid-market update..Country's largest private sector lender ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank dropped 0.5-1% while rival State Bank of India rose 0.24%. Housing finance company HDFC went down 1.76%.
Top software services exporters TCS and Infosys fell 0.6% and 1.2%, respectively, even after the rupee continued to depreciate.
Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC were down 0.8-1.2%. India's largest engineering and construction company by sales Larsen & Toubro lost 0.9% whereas state-owned capital goods company BHEL gained 0.9% ahead of quarterly numbers.
Auto stocks were completely in bear grip as rising rupee may impact royalty payments and import cost. Maruti Suzuki and Hero Motocorp tumbled 2.5% each. Bajaj Auto was down 2% while Tata Motors and M&M declined 0.3-0.7%.
In the second line shares, Wockhardt was the most active stock since its results got announced yesterday. The stock gained 5% today and 8% yesterday as it reported strong performance at EBITDA level in Q4FY12.
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At 10:21 hours IST: Sensex, Nifty continue to languish; Tata Power tanks 4%The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty stayed lower since initial trade due to consistent downward journey in oil & gas producers, FMCG, power and select technology stocks. HDFC, HDFC Bank and auto exporters too were under pressure.
The Indian rupee has not been showing any sign of recovery due to outflow of foreign money, even after the Reserve Bank of India tried to support the rupee. FIIs have sold more than Rs 2,000 crore worth of equities since April. The rupee was trading at 55.78 a dollar, down 39 paise from previous close of 55.39 a dollar.
The BSE benchmark was down 79.41 points or 0.5% to 15,947 and the NSE benchmark fell 24 points to 4,836.50.
UR Bhat, MD of Dalton Capital Advisors feels that the Nifty may fall to 4700 in the near-term
Housing finance company HDFC tanked 1.7% and private sector lender HDFC Bank was down 0.76% whereas top lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank moved up 0.65% and 0.11%, respectively.
Oil & gas producers Reliance Industries and ONGC fell nearly 1% while gas transporter GAIL rallied 3%.
Private power producer Tata Power tanked 4% after the company reported net loss at Rs 629 crore for the fourth quarter of FY12 as against profit of Rs 625 crore YoY.
FMCG majors ITC and HUL were down 0.5% each.
Auto stocks continued to fall as falling rupee may increase royalty payments and import cost for these companies. Maruti, Hero Motocorp and Bajaj Auto tumbled 1.6-2%.
Technology stocks Infosys and Wipro were moderately down whereas TCS was flat, even after depreciation in rupee.
Declining shares outnumbered advancing by 723 to 442 on the National Stock Exchange.
At 9:20 hours IST: Sensex down 0.4% on Greece woes; Rupee hits 55.75/$The BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty opened 0.4% lower on Wednesday following Greece concerns and sharp fall in rupee. The India rupee went down to 55.75 a dollar at open (a new all-time high), but immediately came off day's low to 55.65 a dollar, down 25 paise or 0.46% from previous close of 55.39 a dollar as reports suggested that RBI sold dollars.
The BSE benchmark was down 63.36 points to 15,963.05 and the NSE benchmark fell 19.60 points to 4,840.90.
Among Asian markets, only Shanghai was down just 0.44% while others were down 1.2-1.7% due to eurozone concerns.
Former Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos says preparations for the country's exit from the euro zone are being considered, but will be very damaging. He says such a move is unlikely to materialize but the risk is real.
Back home, Tata Power lost 3.5% after the company reported net loss at Rs 629 crore for the fourth quarter of FY12 as against profit of Rs 625 crore YoY.
Ambuja Cements, Sterlite, Hindalco, Tata Motors, SBI, SAIL, ICICI Bank, PNB, IDFC, ITC and Coal India were down 1-1.5%.
Reliance Industries slipped 1% as CNBC-TV18 reported quoting sources that Niko Resources will exit D4 block with RIL and BP due to size & risk issues, and current commercial environment in India.
However, GAIL, BPCL, Infosys, TCS, Wipro and HCL Tech outperform in early trade.
State-owned capital goods company BHEL was up nearly 1% ahead of Q4 numbers.
The CNX Midcap Index was down 26 points to 6,830. About two shares declined for every share rising on the National Stock Exchange.
In the second line shares, GMR Infra tanked 3.3%.
Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications fell 3% and 1%, respectively as brokerages downgraded telecom space.
HDIL, Manappuram Finance, Shree Renuka, VIP, Central Bank, Andhra Bank, S Kumars and Ashok Leyland lost 0.75-1.5%.
A2Z shot up 5% after Rakesh and Rekha Jhunjhunwala bought 26.5 lakh shares (more than 3.5% equity) of the company.
3i Infotech surged 5%. Wockhardt gained another 3.3% after rallying 8% yesterday due to better than expected performance at EBITDA level in Q4FY12.
Thomas Cook was up 0.9%, continuing yesterday's upmove further as parent company sold Indian unit to Fairbridge Capital.
PFC was up 0.6% and Indraprastha Gas rose 1.5%.
