Sensex Slumps 350 Points; Realty Stocks Lead Losses

Thu, 2 Aug Closing

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After opening the day in red, share markets in India witnessed negative trading activity throughout the day and ended the day in red. Sectoral indices traded mixed, with stocks in the realty sector and stocks in the auto sector, leading the losses.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 356 points (down 1%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 101 points (down 0.9%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day up 0.1%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day flat.

The rupee was trading at Rs 68.69 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 72.04 at the time of writing.

Asian stock markets finished mixed. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was up by 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite was down by 2%. The Nikkei 225 was down by 1%. Meanwhile, European markets too, were trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was up by 1.4%. The DAX, was down by 1.7% while the CAC 40 was down by 0.9%

In news from the manufacturing sector. Activity in India's manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in seven months in June supported by strong domestic and export orders.

According to the Nikkei Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey by Markit, India's manufacturing sector slowed down its pace of expansion in July after a good showing in in June.

The PMI is the reading of the country's manufacturing sector output and is updated monthly. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while any score below the mark denotes contraction.

PMI in June stood at 52.3, a decrease from the 53.1 reading in May, indicating a sustained expansion. This is the twelfth consecutive month that the manufacturing PMI remained above the 50-point mark, which separates expansion from contraction. Notably, the PMI reading in June had expanded at its fastest pace in the last seven months.

Manufacturing Activity Eases Pace in July

A surge in oil prices over the past few months means India's retail inflation has remained above the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) medium-term target of 4% prompting the central bank to raise key interest rates by 25 bps in its latest monetary policy review.

On the prices front, a build-up of inflationary pressures re-emerged as input cost and output inflation was at the strongest since February due to the upswing in global oil prices.

Though Indian manufacturers remained cheerful about growth prospects, worries about the possibility of unexpected policy decisions and a risk of an international trade war weighed on confidence.

Moving on to news from stocks in the telecom sector. Telecom stocks were in focus today after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommended slashing the base price of premium 4G airwaves in the 700 MHz band by almost 43%.

The regulator also set Rs 4.9 billion per unit as the minimum rate for the next generation 5G spectrum that will debut in the next auction.

The net sale is expected to fetch the government over Rs 5 trillion.

TRAI didn't suggest a timeline for the next spectrum sale, which will be India's largest in terms of the quantum of airwaves on offer.

The starting prices for most bands were lowered from those set at the previous sale in October 2016. The next auction could generate some Rs 5 brillion for the government, or about nine times the Rs 657 billion raised in October 2016, if all of the over 8,500 MHz of airwaves are sold at the base price.

However, reports say the sale will likely evoke a lukewarm response, with hardly any takers for both 700 MHz and 5G airwaves at current prices.

Jio is currently the only profitable telecom company, while Vodafone India and Idea Cellular - on the verge of merging - and Bharti Airtel have slipped into the red due to tariff wars. Besides, the industry has a debt of over Rs 7 trillion, primarily blamed on historically high bandwidth prices.

Bharti Airtel share price ended the day down by 2.8%, while Idea Cellular share price ended the day up 1.5%.

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