Markets open negative: Sensex near 52,400, Nifty above 15,700-level; HCL Tech, HDFC Bank among top losers

Markets open negative: Sensex near 52,400, Nifty above 15,700-level; HCL Tech, HDFC Bank among top losers

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Tuesday, July 20, 2021, 09:56 AM IST
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The markets opened negative with the benchmark indices declining. Equity benchmark Sensex tumbled over 200 points in early trade on Tuesday tracking losses in HDFC twins, ICICI Bank and HCL Tech amid intense selloff in global markets.

The 30-share BSE index was trading 201.61 points or 0.38 percent lower at 52,351.79 in initial deals, while the broader NSE Nifty fell 58.45 points or 0.37 percent to 15,693.95.

HCL Tech was down 1.62 percent at 984; HDFC Bank was down 1.62 percent at 1,447.10, ICICI Bank declined 1.01 percent at 649.45.

Ultra Cements was up 1.66 percent at 7,433.65; PowerGrid 0.90 percent up at 235.10, Asian Paints 0.77 percent up at 3,002.20, were the major gainers at the opening bell.

In the previous session, Sensex tumbled 586.66 points or 1.10 per =cent to close at 52,553.40, and Nifty slumped 171 points or 1.07 per cent to 15,752.40.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market as they offloaded shares worth Rs 2,198.71 crore on Monday, as per provisional exchange data.

The 725 points cut in the Dow on Monday - the worst in 2021 - is a reflection of the risk-off in markets globally, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, PTI said.

"Different reasons are attributed to this correction: The rising COVID cases in the US and the UK due to the delta variant, inflation concerns, and concerns about growth coming below consensus expectations.

"It may be all these. The fact is that at high valuations when investors are sitting on big profits, any fear can trigger profit booking and corrections," he stated.

Asian stocks down

Asian stocks were down early on Tuesday as growing fears the spreading Delta variant of the coronavirus would harm the global economic recovery sent riskier assets, including oil, skidding sharply.

US stocks closed sharply lower Monday (its biggest one-day fall since October), joining the sell-off in global equities, as concerns grew about the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, and as tensions ratcheted up between the US and China. The Biden administration on Monday blamed China for a hack of Microsoft Exchange email server software that compromised tens of thousands of computers around the world earlier this year. Democratic senators also were expected to make public on Monday a plan to raise $14 billion annually by imposing taxes on China and other countries not significantly reducing emissions that warm the planet.

US Crude-oil futures settled below $67 a barrel on Monday (down 7.39% to $66.50 per barrel), their biggest daily percentage drop since March, following a weekend deal by the OPEC+ group to boost oil production.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was down 11.9 basis points, dipping below 1.18 percent at its lows and deepening its decline to levels not seen since February.

Economists at Bank of America downgraded their forecast for U.S. economic growth this year to 6.5 percent, from 7 percent previously.

On Tuesday, China kept unchanged its benchmark lending rate for corporate and household loans — the one-year Loan Prime Rate (LPR) held steady at 3.85 percent while the five-year LPR was also left at 4.65 percent.

Fuel prices unchanged

Petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged across the country for the third consecutive day on Tuesday. In Delhi, petrol continues to be sold for Rs 101.84 per litre and diesel at the unchanged price of Rs 89.87 a litre.

In Mumbai, where petrol prices crossed Rs 100-mark for the first time ever on May 29, the fuel price is at Rs 107.83 per litre. Diesel price in the city is also at Rs 97.45, the highest among metros.

In Chennai, petrol is priced at Rs 102.49 per litre while the price of diesel is Rs 94.39 per litre. The price of petrol in Kolkata is Rs 102.08 per litre while diesel is sold at Rs 93.02 per litre.

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