Moneycontrol Bureau
Bears took charge of Dalal Street on Wednesday as the market saw selling pressure in last couple of hours of trade today, weighed down by technology, banking & financials and select oil stocks. The Nifty shut shop below psychological 7900-mark ahead of expiry of December derivative contracts.
The 50-share index declined 32.70 points to 7896.25 and the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 119.45 points to 25960.03 while the broader markets outperformed. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices closed flat with a positive bias.
Weakness in global markets also caused selling pressure in Indian equities. European equities slipped into negative territory as investors fretted over renewed weakness in global commodity markets. Asian markets closed mixed. Brent crude declined 1.8 percent to USD 37.11 a barrel and NYMEX crude lost 2.5 percent to USD 36.92 a barrel (at 16 hours IST).
There is a lot of uncertainty for global markets going into next year, with the biggest being how the Chinese slowdown plays out, but former star fund manager Madhu Kela (chief investment strategist with Reliance Capital) says he would "thump the table" and buy Indian equities should the Nifty were to fall to 7,500 or below.
The India story is "well-discovered" now among global investors, which will provide some cushion to shares in the event they turn lower due to global turbulence, he adds.
The market breadth was positive as about 1387 shares advanced against 1282 declining shares on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Dr Reddy's Labs rose 0.6 percent on relaunching anti-inflammatory drug Esomeprazole magnesium delayed-release capsules in a different colour.
HDFC ended flat. Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) on Tuesday has given nod for Standard Life to hike its stake in the Indian insurance JV to 35 percent from 26 percent earlier.
Tata Power Company gained 0.8 percent as subsidiary Coastal Gujarat Power has refinanced its outstanding rupee loans, which will help in extending tenure of rupee facility and also help in reducing interest cost.
Shares of Infosys, TCS, Reliance Industries, State Bank of India, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro and Hero Motocorp were down 1-1.6 percent while ITC, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, NTPC and BHEL gained 0.5-1 percent.
In broader space, textile stocks like Lakshmi Machine Works, Nahar Spinning and SEL Manufacturing gained 3-15 percent. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs today has approved Rs 17,822 crore for textile sector under Tech Upgradation Fund Scheme, saying amended scheme for textile sector will attract investment worth Rs 1 lakh crore.
Moser Baer, Ujaas Energy and Indosolar surged 7-13 percent after the government approved scaling up of budget from Rs 600 crore to Rs 5,000 crore for implementation of grid connected rooftops systems over a period of five years upto 2019-20 under National Solar Mission (NSM).
IFCI gained 1.7 percent as the company made partial disinvestment of 0.17 percent stake in NSE worth Rs 29.6 crore. Indian Hotels was up 1 percent after a media report says Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group-owned Reliance MF raised stake in the company to 8 percent.
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