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Sensex Extends Slide, Global Stock Market Drivers, and Top Cues in Focus Today
Wed, 26 Feb Pre-Open

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On Tuesday, Indian share markets witnessed volatile trading activity throughout the day and ended marginally lower.

Benchmark indices fell for the third-successive session amid concerns about the coronavirus spreading out of China.

The BSE Sensex closed lower by 82 points to end the day at 40,281. Sun Pharma and HCL Technologies were among the top losers.

While the broader NSE Nifty ended down by 16 points to end at 11,813.

Among BSE sectoral indices, energy stocks fell the most, followed by healthcare stocks and consumer durable stocks.

Top Stocks in Action Today

Navin Fluorine share price will be in focus today as the company has entered into a US$ 410 million contract with a global company for manufacture and supply of a high performance product in the fluorochemicals space.

The contract is for a period of 7 years and this product is not part of Navin Fluorine's existing product portfolio. The capex and project will be executed through its wholly owned subsidiary, Navin Fluorine Advanced Sciences (NFASL).

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) share price will also be in focus today as the company's board has approved the formation of a new wholly-owned subsidiary with an authorised share capital of Rs 20 billion.

Reportedly, the subsidiary is being set up for manufacturing purposes, with an aim at capitalizing on the 15% corporation tax available to new manufacturing firms.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had reduced the corporate tax for existing companies to 22% from 30%, and to 15% from 25% for new manufacturing firms incorporated after October 1, 2019, and starting operations before March 31, 2023.

To know more, you can read HUL's Q3FY20 result analysis on our website.

Market participants will also track Tata Motors share price.

The company's wholly owned subsidiary - Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has inaugurated its new 3S retailer facility Pride Motors in Hyderabad.

India Signs US$ 3 Billion Defense Deal

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that India will buy US$ 3 billion worth of military equipment, including attack helicopters, as the two countries deepen defence and commercial ties in an attempt to balance the weight of China in the region.

India and the United States were also making progress on a big trade deal, Trump said. Negotiators from the two sides have wrangled for months to narrow differences on farm goods, medical devices, digital trade and new tariffs.

Trump sat down for one-on-one talks with Modi followed by delegation-level meetings to try and move forward on issues that have divided them, mainly the festering trade dispute.

After those meetings, Trump said his visit had been productive with the conclusion of deals to buy helicopters for the Indian military.

India is buying 24 SeaHawk helicopters from Lockheed Martin equipped with Hellfire missiles worth US$ 2.6 billion and also plans a follow-on order for six Apache helicopters.

Trump said he also discussed with Modi, the importance of a secure 5G telecoms network in India, ahead of a planned airwaves auction by the country.

From the Economic Space...

According to a Reuters poll, Indian economic growth likely accelerated a touch in the October-December period after its weakest expansion in over six years in the previous quarter, with a small rebound in rural demand and private consumption expected.

Annual gross domestic product growth likely rose to 4.7% in the last quarter of 2019 from 4.5% the previous quarter, when the growth rate appears to have bottomed out, the Reuters poll found.

However, the momentum could be hurt by high retail inflation, which rose to 7.59% in January, potentially constraining consumption and demand.

Policymakers at the Reserve Bank of India are considering more interest rate cuts to prop up economic growth as soon as inflation moderates to its mandated medium-term target of 4%, minutes from their meeting showed this month.

The National Statistics Office has cut its growth projection for the fiscal year 2019-20 to 5.0% from 6.1% previously.

Global Stock Market Drivers

Global stock markets stabilized on Tuesday after a wave of early selling petered out and Wall Street futures managed a solid bounce after the previous day's sharp selloff on fears about the spreading coronavirus.

European shares bounced back after recording their worst losses since June 2016 in the previous session.

Japan's Nikkei fell to a four-month low on Tuesday, as investors reduced their equity holdings on their first trade after a long weekend.

On the commodities front, crude oil prices steadied on Tuesday as investors sought bargains after crude benchmarks slumped almost 4% in the previous session.

In the United States, crude oil inventories were seen building for a fifth straight week, while refined products likely fell.

Meanwhile, gold prices fell 1% on profit-taking after the precious metal hit a seven-year high in the previous session.

As per the economic schedule released by Vijay Bhambwani, editor of Weekly Cash Alerts, here are the important events due later today:

  • India - M3 Money Supply
  • US - Crude Oil Inventories

To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.

For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!

Read the latest Market Commentary


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