An evening walk down Dalal Street | Carnage on D-Street as Sensex falls over 710 points, Nifty sheds 2%

At the close of market hours, the Sensex was down 713.53 points or 2.00% at 34959.72, and the Nifty down 205.20 points or 1.92% at 10488.50. The market breadth was negative as 647 shares advanced, against a decline of 1870 shares, while 134 shares were unchanged.

Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, IOC and BPCL were the top gainers, while Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, and Indiabulls Housing lost the most.

Concerns over global economic growth, along with re-escalating US-China trade war issue pushed US stock futures and Asian markets lower. The Indian market, too, followed suit, opening with a gap-down.

Adding to the woes of bulls were higher crude oil prices, as OPEC and its allies decided to cut supplies by 1.2 million barrels per day.

“Market had turned cautious awaiting the final outcome of the state election, as a precursor to the general election. Unfavourable exit poll results for the ruling party has impacted the sentiment of the market today and this dullness will continue as tomorrow’s final outcome confirms their losing strength. On the other hand if results are not bad as being anticipated today, could save the mood,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said in a statement.

Stocks in the News

Shares of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) gained 4 percent as it considers buyback of its equity shares.

Share price of Mangalam Drugs & Organics rose more than 2 percent after it received pre-qualification approval from WHO.

Share price of Ashoka Buildcon gained 5 percent as company received LoA from Rail Vikas Nigam for the project in the state of Bihar and Jharkhand.

Shares of Escorts shed 4 percent. The company’s Board approved the joint venture with Kubota for manufacturing of high-end tech tractors.

Texmaco Rail and Engineering shares recovered sharply from the 52-week low to rally 6 percent despite Porinju Veliyath-owned firm offloading stake in the company.

Kotak Mahindra Bank shares plunged more than 6 percent after the lender filed writ petition before Bombay High Court to validate its position w.r.t perpetual non-convertible preference shares (PNCPS).

Lupin shares slipped over 3 percent after its Pithampur unit-3 in Indore received Establishment Inspection Report from the US health regulator.

Global Markets

European stocks were lower, as investors reacted to re-escalating US-China tensions along with worries over US’ economic growth. European Stoxx 600 was down around 0.6 percent.

Stocks in Asia declined on Monday, as weaker-than-expected Chinese trade weighed. The Shanghai composite declined by 0.82 percent to close at about 2,584.58 while the Shenzhen composite shed 1.345 percent.