Sensex slides 788 pts, Nifty below 17,350 mark, European shares in red

The headline equity indices continued to trade with major losses in afternoon trade. The Nifty hovered below the 17,350 mark. FMCG and oil & gas stocks were in the green while IT, media and private bank shares witnessed a bit of a selling pressure. Investor sentiments were dented tracking weak global cues as Fed Chair in his address last week flagged the likely need for restrictive monetary policy to curb high inflation.

Investors looked forward to the updates from oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries` annual general meeting scheduled at 2 pm.

At 13:30 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 787.76 points or 1.34% to 58,046.11. The Nifty 50 index lost 230 points or 1.31% to 17,328.90.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index declined 0.86% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.58%.

The market breadth was weak. On the BSE, 1,316 shares rose and 2,117 shares fell. A total of 204 shares were unchanged.

Britannia Industries (up 2.02%), Nestle India (up 1.03%), Maruti Suzuki India (up 0.92%), Tata Consumer Products (up 0.61%) and ITC (up 0.43%) were top Nifty gainers.

Tech Mahindra (down 4.44%), Infosys (down 4.16%), Wipro (down 3.09%), HCL Technologies (down 2.95%) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) (down 2.86%) were major Nifty losers.

Stocks in Spotlight:

UltraTech Cement rose 0.13% after the Aditya Birla group company said that it has completed expansion of 1.3 mtpa capacity at Dalla Cement Works in Uttar Pradesh. This is part of the first phase of capacity expansion announced in December 2020, said the company in a statement on Friday, 26 August 2022.

Tata Steel slipped 2.37%. The steel major has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of Punjab for setting up a 0.75 million tonne per annum (MnTPA) long products steel plant with a scrap-based electric arc furnace (EAF). The company said that this initiative to set up the greenfield facility at Kadiana Khurd, Hitech Valley, Ludhiana in Punjab is a part of Tata Steel`s commitment to investing in a circular economy and transitioning to low-carbon steelmaking through the steel recycling route. It is a step aligned to the Company`s goal of achieving Net Zero carbon emission by 2045, it added.

L&T Technology Services (LTTS) shed 2.31%. The company on Monday said that it has won a 5-year, multi-million-dollar deal from BMW Group to provide high end engineering services for the company`s suite of infotainment consoles targeted for its family of hybrid vehicles. The BMW Group, is the world`s leading manufacturer of premium automobiles and motorcycles, and provider of premium financial and mobility services.

Andhra Paper rallied 7.24% after the company`s board approved a capital expenditure (capex) plan of Rs 400 crore. Out of the total capex of Rs 400 crore, an estimated amount of Rs 113 crore shall be towards equipment reliability & sustainability of the current levels of production.

Global Markets:

The Dow Jones index futures were down 223 points, indicating a negative opening in the US stocks today.

Shares in Europe and Asia declined on Monday as the mounting risk of more aggressive rate hikes in the United States.

Powell`s comments were echoed by European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel over the weekend. Schnabel reaffirmed the view that central banks must act aggressively to tackle rising inflation, even if that means dragging their economies into a recession.

Profits at China`s industrial firms sank in July. Profits at China`s industrial firms fell 1.1% in January-July from a year earlier, wiping out the 1% growth logged during the first six months, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday.

US stocks dropped sharply on Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in his Jackson Hole speech the central bank won`t back off in its fight against rapid inflation.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell warned that rising interest rates will cause �some pain� to the U.S. economy, saying higher interest rates likely will persist �for some time.� He said the Fed`s decision in September �will depend on the totality of the incoming data and the evolving outlook.

Powered by Capital Market - Live News