Nifty, Sensex Post Biggest One-Day Drop Since August 2015

Indian equity markets posted their second straight day of losses, roiled by weak global cues and rising cases of Coronavirus in the Country. The S&P BSE Sensex index closed at 35,634, down by 5.17 percent, the worst fall since August 24, 2015. The index closed at its lowest level since February 19, 2019.

The NSE Nifty 50 index too fell 4.97 percent to close at 10,443. This was also the worst fall for the index since August 24, 2015. The 50-stock benchmark ended at its lowest level since November 01, 2018.

Only four out of the 50 Nifty stocks ended with gains.

Reliance Industries (132 points), ICICI Bank (45 points), TCS (38 points) and HDFC (34 points) were the top contributors to the Nifty downside in terms of points.

Market breadth remained in favour of the declines. 1,413 stocks ended the day with losses while only 175 managed to eke out gains.

It is the ETF flows that are taking the markets lower, according to A Balasubramanian of Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC. He made these comments in an interaction with BloombergQuint.

Here are some of the other key takeaways from the interaction:

• The oil dynamic is changing more towards $30-40/barrel kind of range.
• With oil price being so low, if U.S. shale gas goes out of business because of high costs, we could probably see a recessionary trend globally.
• From India's perspective, the low oil prices may be an opportunity.
• The bigger issue for Indian markets is the ETF flows, which are taking the markets down. The ETF selloff in my view may not last for too long, which in turn, will bring back some stability.
• Having seen such a sharp fall, one must consider lump sum investment over SIPs.

10 lakh shares of the hospital chain changed hands in a large trade on the National Stocks Exchange, as per Bloomberg data. Buyers and sellers in the trade were not immediately known. The stock trades 4 percent lower at Rs 143.35 as of 3:10 PM.

• Buy Nifty 11,600 call of March 19 expiry at around Rs 175. Target of Rs 425 with a stop loss of Rs 50.
• Sell Ambuja Cement for target of Rs 180 and stop loss of Rs 200
• Sell Voltas for target of Rs 615 with stop loss of Rs 660

Atul Suri, CEO of Marathon Trends Advisory believes that the Coronavirus and OPEC-Russia breakdown is proving to be a double whammy for the markets. Speaking to BloombergQuint on phone, Suri said that today's moves is not part of any of the models and that there is no respect for price on days like these.

Here are some of the other key highlights from the conversation:

• Markets extremely oversold & should bounce back as per the textbooks, but the situation is outside the normal
• Crude selloff is an incremental pressure on the market structure
• Seeing liquidation of position & unwinding of positions; there's no respect for price on days like this
• Trying to pick the bottom amid this level of volatility is dicey
• Markets should not make a lower-low at least for 3 days before deploying fresh cash
• Tops & bottoms are mythical numbers, having low risk is what matters in situations like this

• Nifty down over 600 points
• Nifty Bank down over 1,600 points
• Sensex down over 2,000 points
• Nifty, Sensex, Nifty Bank trade at lowest level since December 2018
• India Volatility Index trades at highest level since August 2015
• Nifty adds 17 percent in open interest towards fresh shorts
• Nifty Bank adds 28 percent in open interest towards fresh shorts
• 16 Nifty 50 constituents trade at a 52-week low
• 137 Nifty 500 constituents trade at a 52-week low

European equities had their biggest one-day decline since 2016 and were set to enter a bear market as a price war in oil dealt a new blow to a global economy already grappling with the Coronavirus.

Nifty Bank

• Falls most since November 2016
• Trades at lowest since December 2018

Nifty Auto

• Falls most since November 2016
• Trades at lowest since June 2014

Nifty FMCG

• Falls most since July 2017
• Trades at lowest since October 2018

Nifty I.T.

• Falls most since November 2018
• Trades at lowest since October 2019

Nifty Metal

• Falls most since November 2016
• Trades at lowest since June 2016

Nifty: March 12 Expiry

• 10,500 Put: Premium is now up 650 percent to Rs 271.90. The contract has shed 2.14 lakh shares in open interest.
• 10,800 Call: Premium is now down 87.7 percent to Rs 30.25. The contract has added 15.83 lakh shares in open interest.
• 10,700 Call: Premium is now down 85.23 percent to Rs 47.15. The contract has added 14.6 lakh shares in open interest.

Nifty Bank: March 12 Expiry

• 26,000 Put: Premium is up 651 percent to Rs 556.45. The contract has added 67,040 shares in open interest.
• 27,500 Call: Premium is down 84.25 percent to Rs 98. The contract has added 4.48 lakh shares in open interest.
• 28,000 Call: Premium is down 85.33 percent to Rs 51.1. The contract has added 5.23 lakh shares in open interest.

ONGC
Falls the most since October 2018
Trades at lowest level since September 2004

Vedanta
Falls the most since February 28, 2020
Trades at lowest level since May 2016

Reliance Industries
Falls the most since October 05, 2012
Trades at lowest level since August 2019

TCS
Falls the most since October 2014
Trades at lowest level since October 2019

ICICI Bank
Falls the most since August 10, 2017
Trades at lowest level since October 2019

The NSE Nifty Bank Index falls 20 percent from its record high, entering the bear market territory. The index had registered its all-time high of 32,613 clocked on Dec. 30, 2019.

The Indian rupee weakened further against the U.S. dollar. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.55 percent to 74.18 against the greenback.

The yield on the 10-year fell as much as 19 basis points to below 6 percent, the lowest since August 2003.

Indian equities extended declines, tracking the negative cues from global peers.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell as much as 6.3 percent or over 2,300 points to 35,210.36. The NSE Nifty 50 fell as much as 6.03 percent to trade below 10,400. The broader markets represented by the NSE Nifty 500 Index fell 5.6 percent.

Shares of Future Lifestyle Fashions extended gains for the second consecutive trading session. The stock rose as much as 4.2 percent to Rs 346.

The scrip advanced 16 percent in two sessions. Prior to March 6, Future Lifestyle declined for twelve consecutive trading sessions. Trading volume was three times its 20-day average, according to Bloomberg data. The stock was among the best performers in the NSE Nifty 500 Index.

• Nifty trades around 10,550 mark
• All constituents of Nifty Bank trade with losses
• Sensex trades near 36,000 mark
• Nifty Open Interest up 10.8 percent towards fresh shorts
• Nifty Bank open interest up 32.88 percent towards fresh shorts
• India Volatility Index trades at highest level since May 2019
• Nifty Midcap trades at lowest level since October 2019
• Nifty Smallcap trades at lowest level since August 2019

The Nifty 50 index has 10 stocks that are trading at a 52-week low while the Midcap and Smallcap index have 28 and 25 stocks respectively that trade at their lowest point in over a year.

For Nifty: March 12 Expiry

• 10,500 Put: Premium jumps 211.71 percent to Rs 113.15 and 4.4 lakh shares are added in open interest.
• 10,600 Put: Premium jumps 211.29 percent to Rs 157.20 and 1.4 lakh shares are added in open interest.
• 10,800 Call: Premium falls 79.34 percent to Rs 50.90 and 13.24 lakh shares are added in open interest.

For Nifty Bank: March 12 Expiry

• 26,500 Put: Premium rises 161.1 percent to Rs 329.85 with 83,420 shares added in open interest.
• 28,000 Call: Premium falls 81 percent to Rs 66.05 with 4.6 lakh shares added in open interest.
• 27,500 Call: Premium falls 76.9 percent to Rs 143.80 with 2.81 lakh shares added in open interest.

Shares of the housing finance company fell as much as 20 percent, the most since October 10, 2019 to Rs 203.80 on the National Stock Exchange.

The company in a statement to the exchanges mentioned that it has a total exposure of close to Rs 662 crore to the AT-1 bonds of Yes Bank which have been written down permanently as part of its reconstruction plan by the Reserve Bank of India.

• Nifty falls to lowest level since December 2018
• Sensex falls the most since post demonetisation day of November 9, 2016
• Nifty Metal is the top sectoral loser. Down for eight out of last nine trading sessions
• Yes Bank the only gainer in Nifty Bank
• All other sectoral indices have all constituents trading with losses

Shares of the private lender opened lower by as much as 7.37 percent to Rs 940. This was the second straight day of losses for the bank. Shares have now fallen close to 12 percent in the last two sessions.

The bank deferred its board meeting to raise funds in view of the current market conditions. “In view of the current market conditions and since the Bank is adequately capitalized at present, it has been decided not to consider raising Basel-III-compliant Debt Capital instruments for the time being,” it said in a statement to the exchanges.

Sell-off continued in the Indian equity markets for the second straight session. The S&P BSE Sensex opened as much as 3.1 percent lower at 36,400.

The NSE Nifty 50 Index too opened 3 percent lower at 10,655. 46 out of the 50 Nifty constituents have opened with losses. All sectoral indices have opened with losses.

Market breadth remained firmly in favour of the declines. 147 stocks opened with gains while 1,130 stocks opened with cuts.

The yield on the 10-year note extended declines for the second consecutive trading session and fell as much as 13 basis points to 6.05 percent, the lowest since August 7, 2003.

The Indian rupee opened lower against the U.S. dollar. The home currency depreciated as much as 0.25 percent to 74.05 against the greenback.

• Not the time to be brave in going long on the Nifty. Support seen at 10,600 - 10,700
• Buy Maruti if it holds Rs 6,200 for target of Rs 6,400 and Rs 6,600
• Buy Sun Pharma near Rs 395 - 400 for target of Rs 420 and stop loss of Rs 385

• IndusInd Bank: Board meet to raise funds deferred in view of current market conditions. Bank says it is adequately capitalised.
• BPCL: Government invites Expression of Interest to sell its stake. State-run entities will not be eligible to participate in the bidding.
• PNB Housing: India Ratings downgrades NCD rating to AA from AA+ due to challenging operating environment.
• Indiabulls Housing Finance: Exposure to Yes Bank's AT-1 bonds is close to Rs 662 crore.
• Cox & Kings: Says it has a financial debt of Rs 5,912 crore out of which exposure to Yes Bank and Axis Bank stands at Rs 2,285 crore and Rs 1,065 crore respectively.
• Hikal: Gets notice from Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) for closure of its Mahad unit based on a complaint from a local community in Taloja.
• Novartis: Gets demand notice of Rs 169.52 crore from the Income Tax department.

Get a snapshot of all that you need to know going into today’s trade HERE!

• SBI To acquire 49 percent stake for initial investment of Rs 2,450 crore
• SBI expected to maintain at least 26 percent stake for three years
• SBI may have to infuse further capital to maintain its stake

• Total Cases: 1.08 Lakh
• Global Fatalities: Over 3,800
• Fatalities In China: 3,119
• France bans large gatherings
• New York city confirms 13 new cases

Five more people from Kerala tested positive on Sunday, taking the total number of cases in India to 39.

Brent Crude futures plunged the most since the Gulf War after talks between the OPEC+ group collapsed in Vienna on Friday. This was the second highest price fall on record for Brent futures.

Failure of the talks has triggered an all-out price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia, which may have sweeping political and economic consequences.

Goldman Sachs in a note has warned that oil prices may drop to as low as $20 per barrel.

U.S. stock markets staged a rally in the final hour of trade on Friday to post weekly gains, despite posting the second straight day of declines on Friday.

The S&P 500 ended the week with gains of 0.6 percent while the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq gained 1.8 percent and 0.1 percent for the week respectively.

Here are some of the highlights of Friday's Trading session:

• Treasuries fell to all-time lows with the 10-year yield dropping as far as 0.66 percent
• The U.S. dollar fell for the sixth time in seven days
• U.S. created 2,73,000 jobs in February
• The CBOE Volatility Index climbed to its highest level since August

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 2.9 percent to 10,587 as of 8:20 a.m.

Asian Markets have had another tumultuous start to trade. Futures on the S&P 500 fell as much as 5 percent, triggering trading curbs. Japan's topix index is down 3 percent, while the Nikkei 225 fell as much as 4.6 percent.

Chinese markets too have opened lower with the Hang Seng index falling 4 percent while the Shanghai Composite falling 2 percent.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.