Sensex Slumps Nearly 700 Points On Weak Global Markets

Indian equity benchmarks plunged along with global markets overshadowing gains from decline in oil prices and expectation of easier monetary policy domestically.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 1.89 percent or 690 points to 35,742 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index dropped 1.81 percent or 198 points to 10,754.

Indian markets fell in line with global markets and disconnect earlier this week with global markets was largely on account of expectation of easier monetary policy domestically and liquidity. Now that has played out and we are falling in line with international markets, Market Expert Anand Tandon told BloombergQuint in an interview.

All the 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower led by the S&P BSE Information Technology Index’s 2.6 percent drop.

Indian markets fell in line with weak global cues market experts told BloombergQuint.

Here’s what experts said on the steep fall in markets:

• Indian markets fell in line with global markets and disconnect earlier this week with global markets was largely on account of expectation of easier monetary policy domestically and liquidity. Now that has played out and we are falling in line with international markets. — Market Expert Anand Tandon.
• In the last one-month India outperformed world markets tracking fall in crude price but sooner or later Indian markets had to catch up with what was happening in U.S. This correction can cause temporary aberration and over 6-9 months and markets will be volatile as we approach general elections. — Dilip Bhat, joint MD Prabhudas Lilladher

The pain across equity markets continued on Friday, with European and Asian stocks retreating in the wake of more losses on Wall Street and U.S. futures showing few signs of a rebound. Major currencies were calmer as bonds in Europe retreated.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index edged down at the open, with telecommunications shares leading declines as almost every sector fell.

Singapore’s High Court has rejected an appeal from India’s Singh brothers and upheld an earlier order that they must pay a $526 million award to Daiichi Sankyo Co. Ltd., according to people familiar with the matter.

The verdict is the latest court victory for the Japanese drugmaker as it seeks to enforce a finding by a Singapore tribunal that Malvinder and Shivinder Singh concealed information during the sale of their drugmaker, Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd., a decade ago. Ranbaxy plead guilty to the distribution of adulterated drugs and had to pay the U.S. Department of Justice a $500 million penalty in 2013 after Daiichi bought it from the Singhs.

Source: Bloomberg

• Bharti Infratel has 14.7 lakh shares change hands in a block on BSE. Stock up 0.34 percent to Rs 261.10.

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known

Source: Bloomberg

Indian equity benchmarks extended losses led by declines in Reliance Industries, Infosys and HDFC Bank.

The Sensex fell 1.4 percent or 512 points to 35,918 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index plunged 1.5 percent or 160 points to 10,790.

All the 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the S&P BSE Information Technology Index's 1.8 percent decline.

Mid- and small-cap shares were also facing selling pressure as the S&P BSE MidCap index fell 1.3 percent and S&P BSE SmallCap Index dropped 0.8 percent.

The overall breadth was extremely bearish as nearly 1,600 shares were declining whule 850 were advancing on the BSE.

Shares of the Panvel-based logistics services provider rose for third day in a row and gained as much as 11 percent intraday to Rs 64.50 on heavy volumes.

Trading volume was almost five times its 20-day average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

In the last three sessions the stock has surged 53.20 percent.

• Sanofi India: The Mumbai-based drugmaker fell as much as 0.33 percent to Rs 6,110. Trading volume was more than 18 times its 20-day average.
• BEML: The Bengaluru-based earthmoving equipment maker fell as much as 2.66 percent to Rs 889. Trading volume was more than six times its 20-day average.
• Rupa & Company: The Kolkata-based innerwear maker rose as much as 4.94 percent to Rs 338. Trading volume was more than six times its 20-day average.
• Bharat Electronics: The Bengaluru-based defence equipment maker fell as much as 2.55 percent to Rs 88. Trading volume was more than five times its 20-day average.

We expect Interceptor to do what Classic 350 sales did in India, Siddhartha Lal, MD and CEO of Eicher Motors told BloombergQuint in an interview.

Key highlights of the conversation:

• Classic 350 sales have done exceedingly well in India.
• Expect Interceptor to do well globally, like what Classic 350 sales did in India.
• Looking to set the stage for international markets by ramping up in select countries.
• We have seen strong response and traction in countries like Thailand and Columbia.
• We have not been sitting still, have been aggressively responding to competition.
• Brand, research and development and distribution will provide an edge over competition.
• One cannot expect to hold 90 percent market share in 250 CC plus segment.
• Premiumisation still continues to happen in Indian markets.
• Aim to grow at double the pace than the industry.
• Aim of Royal Enfield is to create desire among customers.
• Have been able to pass on most costs to customers historically.
• Costs are going to go up for the entire industry due to reasons like BS VI.

Nifty's 10,900 put option contract was among the most active option contracts on the National Stock Exchange.

Premium on the contract surged 124 percent to Rs 104.40. Over 6.5 lakh shares were reduced form the open interest which stood at 25.04 lakh shares.

On the flipside, premium on 11,000 call option contract dropped 52 percent to Rs 30.95. Over 18.14 lakh shares were added to the open interest which stood at 59.62 lakh shares.

Click here to see the complete options chain

Indian equity benchmarks extended decline dragged by Infosys, Reliance Industries, HDFC and ICICI Bank.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.85 percent or 311 points to 36,120 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index dropped 1 percent or 115 points to 10,837.

All the 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading lower led by the S&P BSE Realty Index's 1.65 percent decline.

Overall breadth was bearish as 1,280 shares were declining while 677 were advancing on the BSE.

Shares of the Hyderabad-based drugmaker fell as much as 1 percent to Rs 2,600.

Aquestive and Indivior said they would file a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for hearing on the ruling to vacate the preliminary injunction that enjoined Dr. Reddy’s from launching its generic buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual film.

Shares of the Mumbai-based steel-pipe maker rose close to 8 percent to over seven-month high of Rs 368.35 after it received letter of acceptance for construction of drinking water supply projects worth Rs 502.89 crore in Andhra Pradesh, according to its notification to the bourses.

The project will be completed within 24 months. The trading volume was more than 100 times the 20-day average for this time of the day, Bloomberg data showed.

Shares of the country's second largest wireless telecom services provider rose as much as 2.59 percent to Rs 325 after its board approved stake sale in tower unit.

Bhari Airtel's board approved sale of up to 59.12 crore equity shares, representing 32 percent stake in Bharti Infratel to its arm Nettle Infrastructure Investments, the company said in an exchange filing.

After the deal, Bharti Airtel will own 18.33 percent stake in its Infratel arm and Nettle Infrastructure Investments and the public will hold 35.18 percent and 46.49 percent respectively, the filing added.

Shares of the Delhi-based news broadcast company rose as much as 10 percent, its biggest intraday gain in over five months, to Rs 39.25 after NDTV Convergence announced Rs 300 crore deal with Taboola.

The company has struck an unprecedented five-year deal with Taboola, the world’s largest content discovery platform, NDTV said in a press release.

The five-year deal ties NDTV Convergence exclusively to Taboola and involves a minimum guarantee of more than Rs 300 crore for NDTV Convergence, making it one of the largest deals not just for digital content but for the media space in its entirety, the release added.

Indian equity benchmarks edged lower paced by losses in Infosys, Coal India, Dr. Reddy's Labs and HDFC.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.13 percent or 44 points to 36,390 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index declined 0.13 percent or 14 points to 10,937.

Fifteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE were trading higher led by the S&P BSE telecom Index's 1 percent gain. On the flipside, S&P BSE Information Technology Index was the top loser, down 0.6 percent.

Mid- and small-cap shares were outperforming their larger peers as the S&P BSE MidCap Index rose 0.3 percent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index advanced 0.25 percent.

Rupee opened lower at 69.94 per dollar against yesterday's close of 69.70.

The local unit fell as much as 0.37 percent or 26 paise to 69.96 against the greenback.

• Nifty December futures closed trading at 10,978, premium of 19 points.
• Maximum open interest for December series call at 11,000 strike value call option contract (open interest at 41 lakh shares).
• Maximum open interest for December series put at 10,000 strike value put option contract (open interest at 47 lakh shares).

Insider Trading

• Cox & Kings promoter Liz Traders and Agents acquired 40,000 shares on Dec.18.
• Elpro International promoter IGE (India) Pvt acquired 6 lakh shares on Dec.19.

CARE Ratings

• Pabrai Investment Fund sold 8.36 lakh shares (2.84 percent) at Rs 985.75 each.

Satin Creditcare Network

• Massachusetts Institute of Technology acquired 8.47 lakh shares (1.73 percent) at Rs 228.25 each
• MV Mauritius sold 8.50 lakh (1.74 percent) at Rs 228.25 each

Who’s Meeting Whom

• Eicher Motors to meet Streinberg Asset Management on Dec. 21.
• ACC to meet MOSAIC on Dec. 21.

• Dr Reddy’s Laboratories: Aquestive and Indivior said they would file a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit for hearing on the ruling to vacate the preliminary injunction that enjoined Dr. Reddy’s from launching its generic buprenorphine/naloxone sublingual film.
• Punjab National Bank: CRISIL had downgraded the ratings on various bonds of PNB to CRISIL AA+/CRISIL AA- from CRISIL AAA/CRISIL AA. Separately it has changed the outlook to ‘Stable’ from 'Rating Watch with Negative Implications'.
• Bharti Airtel’s board approved sale of up to 59.12 crore equity shares, representing 32 percent stake of Bharti Infratel owned by the company to its arm Nettle Infrastructure Investments. After the deal, Bharti Airtel will own 18.33 percent stake in its Infratel arm and Nettle Infrastructure Investments and the public will hold 35.18 percent and 46.49 percent, respectively.
• Infosys appointed Nilanjan Roy as company Chief Financial Officer with effect from March 1 2019, while Jayesh Sanghrajka will be the deputy CFO, from the same date. The tech company’s arm and Qatar National Bank also announced implementation of digital banking solutions for the bank.
• NHPC said 520 MW power station in Himachal Pradesh would be under complete shutdown from three months with effect from Dec. 20 for repair and maintenance work.
• Bosch said it will would close Karnataka’s Bidadi Plant from Dec. 28-29 due to reduction in volumes seen, as a result of decline in the customer’s requirement. The company said that there will be no financial impact on account of proposed suspension of operations.
• Power Finance Corporation’s board approved proposal to buy Government of India’s entire shareholding in REC.
• Entertainment Network (India) said due to a fire breakout at Common Transmission Infrastructure at Mumbai, terrestrial broadcasting has been disrupted at the company’s Mumbai radio station and other private broadcasters in Mumbai.
• Coal India said it would pay interim dividend of Rs 7.25 per share aggregating to Rs 4,500 crore to its shareholders with an implied dividend yield of 3 percent. The company has fixed Dec. 31 as the record date.
• Indian Hume Pipe received letter of acceptance for constructions of drinking water supply projects worth Rs 502.89 crore in Andhra Pradesh for the state’s water supply corporation. The project will be completed within 24 months.
• Indiabulls Real Estate entered into an agreement with Blackstone to divest up to 50 percent stake in two office assets in Gurugram at aggregate value of Rs 464 crore.
• HT Media’s board approved to acquire 25 percent stake in Next Mediaworks’ promoters for Rs 45.15 crore and to additionally acquire 26 percent stake, by triggering an open offer to the public shareholders. The board also gave nod to acquire 48.6 percent stake in Next Radio.
• JSW Steel said it would infuse Rs 63.5 crore in Vardhaman Industries to pay the creditors as per the Resolution Plan by NCLT. The entire shareholding of Vardhaman Industries will be reduced by way of capital reduction and it will be delisted.
• Artemis Global Lifesciences received NCLT direction to conduct meetings with shareholder and creditors on Jan. 27 for amalgamation of the company and its three arms.
• CARE Ratings received the SEBI notice for conduct of adjudication proceedings in relation to credit ratings assigned to Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services Ltd. and one of its subsidiaries.
• Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services sought expression of interests for monetization of education business and Alternative Investment Fund management business. AIF business manages assets worth Rs 13,340 crore.
• Escorts Group increased its stake in Optunia Power Infrastructure from 49 percent to 99 percent, by acquiring 2.94 crore shares at face value of Rs 10 per share.
• Mercator sold vessel for $7.6 million and said that proceeds of this sale would be used to reduce debt and liabilities.
• Time Technoplast received power cable-ducts orders worth Rs 150 crore from various EPC Contractors.
• Mayur Uniquoters’ CFO Manish Kumar Dwivedi resigned from his post with effect from Dec. 19.
• Tata Consultancy Services implemented payments operations solutions for Japan based-MUFG Bank.
• HCL Technologies partnered with Israel based Cloudify to bring 5G network solutions to telecom providers.
• Infibeam Avenues and IBM India executed agreement to develop, implement and promote blockchain applications to Indian clients on Linux platform.
• Dhanuka Agritech’s board determined buy-back of 13.12 percent of equity share capital at a price of Rs 550 per share aggregating to Rs 82.5 crore.
• Borosil Glass Works’ board approved winding up of Dubai arm ‘Borosil Afrasia FZE’.

• U.S. accuses China of broad economy espionage
• Tax department seeks external help to resolve angel tax issue
• Brent crude falls below $55 as Fed hike heightens demand fears
• IL&FS to sell education, wealth management arms
• Infosys hires top Bharti Airtel executive
• Swiggy raises $1 billion from Tencent, Naspers
• Public sector bank officers’ union to go on strike today
• ‘Mystery’ company guarantees loans to Anil Ambani’s defence firms
• Modi’s pledge on farm income wilts as crop prices drop in India
• Facebook is developing a cryptocurrency for WhatsApp transfers, sources say
• Why even Congress may not project Rahul as prime minister

Good Morning!

The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of NSE Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, fell 0.34 percent to 10,957 as of 8:05 a.m.

Asian stocks fell and Japanese equities dropped deeper into a bear market, with regional shares on course to round out the worst week since October. U.S. futures slipped after shares fell overnight. Benchmark Treasury yields were steady at 2.80 percent.

Japan bore the brunt of the sell-off in equities, with Hong Kong and Australia also lower. The Nasdaq Composite on Thursday extended its loss from a recent peak to almost 20 percent as the rising threat of a government shutdown in the U.S. added to a litany of concerns weighing on equities. Oil climbed, though remains on track to slide more than 9 percent this week.

Stocks

• Japan’s Topix index fell 1.7 percent as of 10:40 a.m. in Tokyo.
• Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.8 percent.
• The Shanghai Composite declined 0.6 percent.
• Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index slid 0.8 percent.
• Futures on the S&P 500 fell 0.3 percent.
• The S&P 500 Index fell 1.6 percent on Thursday. The Nasdaq Composite lost 1.6 percent, taking its slide from the August record high to 19.5 percent.

Currencies

• The yen was little changed at 111.25 per dollar after surging 1.1 percent.
• The offshore yuan held at 6.8891 per dollar.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index sank 0.7 percent Thursday to the lowest in six weeks.
• The euro traded at $1.1453.
• The pound advanced 0.1 percent to $1.2665.

Commodities

• West Texas Intermediate crude added 1.8 percent to $46.70 a barrel.
• Gold rose 0.1 percent to $1,260.99 an ounce.