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Bourses trade lower in afternoon session
Oct-26-2020

Indian bourses were trading in deep red in the afternoon session, with the Sensex losing over 350 points and Nifty falling below the 11850 level, amid weak Asian cues. Weak broader indices along with heavy sell off at metal, energy and realty counters, dragged the markets lower. Sentiments remain weak with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PHDCCI) statement that it expects India's GDP to contract by 7.9 per cent in the current financial year (FY21) and grow by 7.7 per cent in FY22, assessing that the worst is over and the economy is on the verge of a slow recovery. Adding pessimism, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das states that the risk of a second wave of COVID-19 could put sand in the wheels of the nascent recovery. On the global front; Asian markets were trading mostly lower as surging coronavirus cases in Europe and the United states undermined the global outlook, while China's leaders meet to ponder the future of the economic giant. Back on street, in scrip specific developments, Shares of Future Group companies were under pressure after Amazon won a favourable ruling for its plea in Singapore against the Kishore Biyani-headed group striking a deal with Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, while Aurobindo Pharma jumped on signing definitive agreement to sell Natrol to New Mountain Capital.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 40327.22, down by 358.28 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 40299.75 and 40724.40. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index lost 1.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.57%.

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal down by 2.69%, Energy down by 2.12%, Realty down by 2.06%, Auto down by 1.85% and Basic Materials down by 1.52%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Nestle up by 2.33%, Indusind Bank up by 1.51%, HDFC up by 0.57%, TCS up by 0.47% and Larsen & Toubro was up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.84%, Tata Steel down by 2.96%, Reliance Industries down by 2.44%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.92% and ICICI Bank was down by 1.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in a big relief to borrowers, the Finance Ministry has approved guidelines for a scheme for grant of ex-gratia payment of the difference between compound interest and simple interest for six months of loans up to Rs 2 crore.

The guidelines came after the Supreme Court directed the Centre to implement as soon as possible interest waiver on loans of up to Rs 2 crore under the RBI moratorium scheme in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

As per the guidelines, the scheme can be availed by borrowers in specified loan accounts for a period from March 1 to August 31, 2020. Housing loan, education loans, credit card dues, auto loans, MSME loans, consumer durable loans and consumption loans are covered under the scheme.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11824.35, down by 106.00 points or 0.89% after trading in a range of 11814.75 and 11942.85. There were 13 stocks advancing against 37 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.20%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 2.15%, Nestle up by 2.09%, Indusind Bank up by 1.41% and HDFC was up by 0.51%. On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 4.28%, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.03%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.81%, Hindalco down by 3.10% and Tata Steel was down by 3.03% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly lower; Nikkei 225 slipped 22.25 points or 0.09% to 23,494.34, Straits Times trembled 6.61 points or 0.26% to 2,530.78, KOSPI fell 16.90 points or 0.72% to 2,343.91 and Shanghai Composite was down by 36.30 points or 1.11% to 3,241.70.

On the other hand, Jakarta Composite soared 35.28 points or 0.69% to 5,147.47 and Taiwan Weighted was up by 10.21 points or 0.08% to 12,909.0

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