Nifty Settles Below 8,100 For First Time In Nearly Five Months

Sensex extended selloff to fourth day and the broader Nifty closed below its crucial psychological level of 8,100 for first time in nearly five months as the government's move to demonetise old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 continue to hurt investor sentiment.

Analysts say that the move to demonetise currency notes will have an adverse effect on the economy and earnings growth of India Inc are also likely to trend lower.

The Sensex ended 71 points lower at 26,228 and Nifty fell 32 points to settle at 8,080.

According to former Chief Statistician of India, Pronab Sen the recent demonetisation has impacted the entire informal sector, which accounts for about 45 per cent of the GDP and nearly 80 per cent of employment.

Talking to NDTV Profit, Mr Sen said "Only on the basis of monetary impact of demonetisation we can expect the GDP to come down by 1 per cent and if we take into account the impact on production side due to credit crunch, the GDP can come down by up to 3 per cent."

Meanwhile, from the Nifty basket of shares, 29 ended lower while 22 ended on a positive note.

Ambuja Cements was among the top Nifty losers, the stock closed 4 per cent lower at Rs 194.05. Bharti Airtel, TCS, Zee Entertainment, TCS, ACC, Bajaj Auto, Coal India and Wipro also ended on a weak note in the Nifty.

On the other hand, Hindalco, Tata Motors, Power Grid, GAIL India, Cipla and BHEL were among the gainers.

On the sectoral front, IT shares were among the badly hit in today's session at the same time some buying was seen in power and metal shares.

The broader markets ended on a subdued note with BSE mid-cap index declining 0.38 per cent and small-cap index falling 0.57 per cent.

The overall market breadth was extremely bearish as 1,664 stocks ended lower while 950 ended higher on the BSE.

3:05 p.m.: Stock markets extends losses. Sensex falls 138 points to 26,160 and Nifty declines 49 points to 8,062.

2:54 p.m.: Broader markets face selling pressure. The BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices decline 0.36 and 0.59 per cent each respectively.

2:15 p.m.: Market breadth turns extremely bearish as 1,674 stocks fall while 832 advance on the BSE.

1:53 p.m.: The stock markets feel sharply in afternoon deals as selling pressure picked up pace in IT, capital goods and power shares. The Sensex declined 96 points to 26,203.11 and Nifty fell 36 points to 8,075 levels.

Analysts say the investor sentiment has taken a hit after government decided to demonetize currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 which they say will affect the earnings growth of India Inc going ahead.

1:40 p.m.: The stock markets moved lower amid rangebound trading. Sensex declined 15 points to 28,284 and Nifty slipped 7 points to 8,104.

1:28 p.m.: Sunil Hitech Engineers was the top loser from the small-cap space, down 20 per cent at Rs 240.50. Capital Trade Link, Swan Energy, Diamond Power Infrastructure, Shipping Corporation of India, Gujarat NRE Coke, High Ground Enterprise, Voltas and PMC Fincorp were also among the losers, down 8-13 per cent.

1:07 p.m.: From the Nifty basket of shares, 27 were advancing while 24 were declining. Coal India, Wipro, power Grid, TCS, Ambuja Cements, Eicher Motors and Infosys were among the laggards. While, Hindalco, Bank of Baroda, Tata Motors, Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and IndusInd Bank were among the gainers.

12:47 p.m.: Capital goods shares were witnessing selling pressure. The BSE Capital Goods index was down 0.37 per cent; Siemens, Welspun Corp, BEML, Mahindra CIE, Suzlon Energy, Larsen & Toubro, Thermax and Crompton Greaves were among the losers.

12:36 p.m.: Oberoi Realty was the top loser from the mid-cap space, down 5.6 per cent to Rs 272. indian Hotels, Blue Dart, Container Corp, Page Industries, Bajaj Holdings, OFSS, Sun TV, Petronet LNG and M&M Financial Serveces were also among the laggards, down 1-4.7 per cent each.

12:16 p.m.: The overall market breadth was negative as 1,269 stocks were declining while 1,053 were advancing on the BSE.

12:11 p.m.: Sensex and Nifty swung between gains and losses on Thursday as banks recovered from recent losses, although uncertainty remained about the economic impact of the government's action last week to remove high-value banknotes from circulation.

Government announced on Thursday some new measures to ease the cash crunch caused by the move, including allowing farmers to draw money from banks against loans sanctioned to them.

"Overall, the general market sentiment is down as investors remain wary and we can see some discretionary spending taking place due to demonetisation," said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice-president of research at SMC Global Securities.

"A lot of mixed reaction can be expected from sector-based stocks as we get a clearer picture on who would gain from this (withdrawal of bank notes) move and who would be impacted. While gains on the indexes right now will be short term, one can expect selling to resume soon."

12:04 p.m.: IT shares were witnessing selling pressure. The BSE IT index was down 0.77 per cent on the back of selling pressure in Wipro, HCL Technologies, OFSS, TCS and Infosys.

11:40 a.m.: The stock markets were trading in a narrow range in late morning deals. The Sensex traded in range of 200 points while Nifty hit high of 8,151 and low of 8,091. As of 11:39 a.m, the Sensex was up 49 points at 26,347 and Nifty was at 8,122, up 11 points.

11:01 a.m.: Banking shares witness good buying interest. The Nifty Bank index trades 0.4 per cent or 76 points higher at 19,184; Canara Bank, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, Bank of India, Federal Bank, IndusInd Bank and Yes Bank were among the top gainers.

10:49 a.m.: Shares of Tata group company Voltas Ltd fell as much as 9.4 per cent to hit intraday low of Rs 297.50 after the air conditioning company's revenue declined in the September quarter. 

Mumbai-based Voltas reported that its total income from operations declined 7 per cent to Rs 972.29 crore from Rs 1,046.68 crore during the same quarter last year.

10:10 a.m. Sensex gave up morning gains and the broader Nifty fell below its crucial psychological level of 8,100 on the back of weakness in heavyweights such as HDFC Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Auto, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti Suzuki.

As of 10:07 a.m., the Sensex was down 14 points at 26,284.45 and Nifty was down 13 points at 8,099 levels.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 28 were advancing while 23 were declining.

The broader markets also came under selling pressure as BSE mid-cap index fell 0.1 per cent and small-cap index declined 0.4 per cent.

9:37 a.m.: The Sensex rose over 100 points while the broader Nifty held to its important psychological level of 8,100 on the back of gains in banking, auto and oil & gas shares.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks slipped on Wall Street's overnight dip and the dollar edged away from a 13-year peak on Thursday, following an easing of the week-long surge in Treasury yields that was fuelled by hopes for the Trump administration's economic policies. 

Overnight, The S&P 500 closed lower and the Dow ended a seven-day rally on Wednesday as financial stocks fell but gains in technology stocks helped Nasdaq end the day higher. 

U.S. stocks had been on a tear since the real estate developer's surprise victory in the November 8 US presidential election. The Dow had closed higher for the previous seven sessions, with the last four at record levels.

Back home, foreign institutional investors continue to sell Indian shares. The FIIs on Wednesday sold shares worth Rs 1,957.04 crore. Since the day Donald Trump won elections FIIs have sold shares worth Rs 8,070 crore.

Meanwhile, in early deals, buying was seen in banking, oil & gas, auto and capital goods stocks while select IT shares were witnessing selling pressure.

Analysts remain cautious on stock markets as they think government's move to demonetise big currency notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 will impact sales of many consumption driven companies hence lowering their earnings growth.

From the Nifty basket of shares, 38 were advancing while 13 were declining.

Tata Power was the top Nifty gainers; the stock advanced 2 per cent to Rs 72.20. Axis Bank, BHEL, Bank of Baroda, Tata Motors, Lupin, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, BPCL and Bharti Airtel were also among the gainers.

On the other hand, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Ambuja Cement, Eicher Motors, HDFC, ITC, Dr Reddy's Labs and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.

The broader markets were trading higher with BSE mid-cap index advancing 1 per cent and small-cap index jumping 0.6 per cent.

As of 9:31 a.m., the Sensex was up 137 points at 26,435.56 and Nifty was at 8,147.75, up 36 points. (With inputs from Reuters)