The benchmark indices hit fresh intraday low in afternoon trade. Sentiment took a hit after Moody's cut 2021 GDP growth forecast to 5.8% from 6.7% earlier.
At 13:25 IST, the S&P BSE Sensex, was down 157.09 points or 0.38% at 41,100.65. The Nifty 50 index declined 61.80 points or 0.51% at 12,051.65.
The selling was broad based. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index was down 0.74% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index fell 0.75%.
The market breadth favored the sellers. On the BSE, 771 shares rose and 1597 shares fell. A total of 167 shares were unchanged. In Nifty 50 index, 19 stocks advanced while 31 stocks declined.
Economy:
Moody's Investors Service has cut India's 2020 GDP growth forecast to 5.4% from 6.6%. The credit rating agency also trimmed its 2021 GDP forecast to 5.8% from 6.7%. The cut in growth forecast is on the back of coronavirus outbreak which could hurt India's recovery. It added that any recovery in the country may be lower than expected.
Last month, the Economic survey estimated GDP growth for Financial Year 2020-21 at 6-6.5% while FY20 GDP growth is estimated at 5%.
Meanwhile, India's exports declined 1.7% to $25.97 billion in January 2020 over a year ago. Meanwhile, merchandise imports fell at slower pace of 0.7% to $41.14 billion. The trade deficit rose 0.9% to $15.17 billion in January 2020 from $14.73 billion in January 2019.
Services exports increased 11.6% to $20 billion in December 2019 over December 2018. Meanwhile, India's services imports moved up 10.4% to $12.56 billion in December 2019. India's services trade surplus galloped 13.7% to $7.45 billion in December 2019 from $6.55 billion in December 2018.
India's foreign exchange reserves jumped by $1.70 billion and stood at record high of $473 billion in the week ended 7 February 2020. The foreign exchange reserves had stood at $471.30 a week ago.
Stocks in Spotlight:
GAIL (India) (up 2.37%), Titan Company (up 1.75%), Nestle India (up 1.06%), TCS (up 0.93%) and Vedanta (up 0.82%) advanced.
Yes Bank (down 5.53%), Coal India (down 4.32%), Cipla (down 3.30%), Indian Oil Corporation (down 3.06%) and BPCL (down 3.05%) declined.
ONGC fell 4.29% to Rs 98.85. ONGC said its consolidated net profit dropped 47.8% to Rs 4,903.68 crore on 6.7% decline in net sales to Rs 1,09,443.39 crore in Q3 December 2019 (Q3 FY20) over Q3 December 2018 (Q3 FY19). Crude oil production during the quarter declined 3.5% to 5.82 Million Tonne (MT). Oil price realisation from nominated blocks dipped 10% to $59.73 per barrel during the December quarter.
Hero MotoCorp added 0.26% to Rs 2297.60. The automaker said the company has commenced the dispatches of three more BS-VI products - Splendor+ in the motorcycle segment and Destini 125 and Maestro Edge 125 in the premium scooter segment. These launches come close on the heels of the BS-VI versions of the Splendor iSmart and HF Deluxe motorcycles and the Pleasure+ 110 scooter, which are already available in the market.
Indusind Bank gained 0.43% to Rs 1181.35. The private lender informed that it has a loan exposure of Rs 995 crore, which is standard The Bank also has a non-fund exposure in the nature of bank guarantees of Rs 2,409 crore. The entire exposure is secured.
Overseas markets:
European markets opened higher while Asian stocks were mostly lower on Monday as investors weighed the near-term hit on global growth from a fast-spreading coronavirus outbreak in China, although expectations of further policy stimulus helped stem losses.
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) announced on Monday that it would provide medium-term funding of 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) to commercial lenders and cut its main interest rate by 10 basis points to 3.15%. The move is intended to shield the economy from the fallout of the coronavirus, which has now infected over 70,000 people and killed 1,770, according to China's National Health Commission.
Meanwhile, the Japanese economy shrunk at an annualized pace of 6.3% in the three months that ended in December.
In US, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished at records on Friday as investors parsed mixed data on the strength of the US consumer and monitored the spread of COVID-19 in China.
The US consumer January retail sales showed sluggish activity, underscored by a 3.1% drop in sales at clothing stores.
The US bond and stock markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.
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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)