Sensex Slumps Over 275 Points; Realty And Banking Stocks Witness Selling
After trading on a volatile note throughout the day, share markets in India witnessed selling pressure during the closing hours and ended the day in the red. All sectoral indices traded in red, with stocks in the banking sector and realty sector leading the losses.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 279 points (down 0.8%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 91 points (down 0.8%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 1.7%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 3.0%.
The rupee was trading at Rs 72.25 against the US$ in the afternoon session.
Asian stock markets finished on a positive note. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 1.7% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 2.4%. The Nikkei 225 was up by 0.8%. Meanwhile, European markets were also trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 1.1%. The DAX was up by 0.6%, while the CAC 40 was up by 0.7%
While the RBI denied the three-year extension approved by the bank, it has allowed Rana Kapoor to continue as the MD & CEO till 31 January 2019.In news from the banking sector, Yes Bank share price was in focus today. The stock of the company witnessed selling pressure after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) denied its promoter and current CEO Rana Kapoor an extension to continue his term as the bank's CEO.
This will be the second time when an Indian bank chief has failed to get an extension which was approved by shareholders. Earlier, Axis Bank's chief executive Shikha Sharma was denied an extension request by the RBI. Another CEO of ICICI Bank-Chanda Kochhar is being probed for alleged irregularity in loan approvals.
Moving on to the news from the sugar sector, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed a penalty of Rs 380.5 million on sugar mills and their associations for rigging bids with regard to a joint tender floated by oil marketing cos for procurement of ethanol for blending with petrol.
The regulator also directed the sugar mills and the associations - Indian Sugar Mills Association (ISMA) and Ethanol Manufacturers Association of India (EMAI) - to cease and desist from indulging in conduct that has been found to be in contravention of Section 3 of the Competition Act (section 3 pertains to anti-competitive agreements).
On the back of the above development, stocks such as Bajaj Hindustan Sugar share price, Simbhaoil Sugars share price, Andhra Sugars share price, Balrampur Chini Mills share price, and Dalmia Bharat Sugar and Industries share price witnessed most of the selling pressure.
Financial stocks also witnessed a beating today. Stocks such as DHFL, Indiabulls Housing Finance and Can Fin Homes all plunged up to 55%.
Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) share price skidded over 50% fearing liquidity crisis. The management, however, assuaged investor concerns and said the company has not defaulted on any repayments.
In the news from macroeconomic space, as per a leading financial daily, the Indian government is planning to announce lower than expected borrowing needs for the second half of FY19.
As per the news, senior Indian government officials met with a select group of market participants earlier this week and assured them that the bond market borrowing programme for October to March would be lower than expected.
The meeting was held to get feedback on the ongoing volatility in bond and currency markets, and also to assure market participants about the government's intention to stick to its fiscal deficit and borrowing targets.
Also, speaking of borrowing needs, the economies that were already at the brink of sovereign default in 2008 haven't done much better of late. In fact, countries like China, which have doubled their debt obligation in the past decade, have added to the pressure.
But you would be wrong to assume that it's only the governments of these economies that have the debt problem. Rather it is corporate and individuals too that are heavily in bad debt.
India hasn't really joined this bloating empire of debt. It's among the few economies which has seen its overall debt to GDP fall in the past decade.
India Hasn't Joined the 'Empire of Debt' in the Past Decade
Nevertheless, after the oil and currency contagion, the global debt contagion is going to hurt all emerging markets alike. Including India.
It would be interesting to see how this pans out. Meanwhile, we'll keep you updated on all the development from this space.
Disclosure: Equitymaster Agora Research Private Limited (hereinafter referred as 'Equitymaster') is an independent equity research Company. Equitymaster is not an Investment Adviser. ...
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