Sensex sinks 300 pts, Midcap plunges 2%; IT stocks outperform

Moneycontrol Bureau11:55 am USFDA nod: Panacea Biotec has received establishment inspection report from the US Food and Drug Administration indicating the formal closure of the current good manufacturing practise and pre-approval inspection conducted by USFDA, at its oncology parenteral and oral solids dosage formulation facilities at Malpur, Baddi, District Solan, Himalchal Pradesh.

The oral solids manufacturing facility located at Baddi site has a history of completion of four consecutive successful current good manufacturing practise and pre-approval inspections by USFDA in last 7 years. The manufacturing facility of oncology parenteral formulations has been inspected successfully for the first time by USFDA.11:34 am Fiscal deficit: Ratings agency Moody's has maintained its stable rating on India in its recent report and expects to see strongest profit growth among corporates in India in the Asia Pacific region.

The firm sees sustained economic growth, commissioning of additional production capacity and higher commodity prices that will boost corporate earnings in India.

On the recent developments in India with regards to demonetisation, Marie Diron of Moody's Investors Services told CNBC-TV18 that this move is a part of the reform steps undertaken by the government and will prove to be positive for the economy and budget in the medium term.

She said that the government may have to cut its fiscal spending but see it meeting its fiscal deficit target of 3.5 percent.11:17 am FII View: Abhay Laijawala of Deutsche Bank says while India’s balance of payments situation has improved sharply since the taper tantrum in May’13 (when India saw significant currency volatility on foreign outflows), it will not remain immune to the outflow pressure seen across EMs.In the run up to the end of the calendar year, he expects the flow environment to stay highly challenging with many uncertainties. These include: the outcome of the Italian referendum on Decmeber 4, 2016, Fed meeting on December 15, pace of outflows from China and the associated depreciation of the CNY."In case the pressure on outflows from China increases as a consequence of Fed policy and President-elect Trump’s pro-growth policies, which would result in sharp dollar strengthening, we may see acceleration in the selling by foreign institutional investors who have been net sellers throughout November (net sold USD 1020 billion MTD)," he says.He expects the remainder of 2016 to be highly uncertain, which will keep markets volatile with a downward bias. It cut December 2016 Sensex target to 25,000 (from 27,000 earlier).Also read - Buy, sell, hold: 11 stocks for your portfolio11:00 am Market Check

Dalal Street caught in bear grip as equity benchmarks fell more than 1 percent and the broader markets shed more than 2 percent. Nifty Auto and Bank indices were down 2 percent each while Realty plunged 4 percent.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 331.12 points or 1.27 percent at 25819.12 and the 50-share NSE Nifty declined 116.95 points or 1.45 percent to 7957.15. About five shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.

Technology stocks outperformed the market with the Nifty IT index rising 0.4 percent as the rupee traded over 8-month low. It was down 0.18 percent to 68.25 against the US dollar.

State Bank of India was the biggest loser on the Sensex, down over 4 percent followed by Adani Ports, Tata Steel, HDFC, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors.