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Sensex Opens Flat; Sun Pharma and ITC Top Losers
Mon, 16 Dec 09:30 am

Asian stock markets are mixed today. The Nikkei 225 is flat while the Hang Seng is down 0.3%. The Shanghai Composite is trading up by 0.1%. Meanwhile, The S&P 500 and the Dow industrials ended little changed on Friday, hitting record highs in the session, as the United States and China announced an initial trade agreement, cooling tensions that have rattled markets.

Back home, India share markets opened flat. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 54 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 18 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.

Barring metal stocks, oil & gas and FMCG stocks, all sectoral indices have opened the day in green with capital goods and IT stocks witnessing buying interest.

The rupee is currently trading at 70.79 against the US$.

Moving on to the news from the banking sector. As per RBI's risk-assessment report, Punjab National Bank (PNB) under-reported its non-performing assets by Rs 26.2 billion for the fiscal year 2019.

Also, the divergence in provisioning for bad loans in FY19 was to the tune of Rs 20.9 billion.

Consequently, based on the divergence assessed by RBI in provisioning for bad loans, PNB said it would have reported a net loss of Rs 113.4 billion for FY19 as opposed to a net loss of Rs 99.8 billion.

The bank said it reported gross NPAs of Rs 784.7 billion, while as per RBI's assessment the figure was Rs 810.9 billion.

Similarly, it reported net NPAs of Rs 300.4 billion, compared to RBI's assessment of Rs 326.5 billion.

Provisions for NPAs made by the bank in FY19 stood at Rs 481.5 billion but it needed to provide Rs 502.4 billion.

Recently, market regulator made it mandatory for listed banks to disclose bad loan divergence within a day of receiving the risk assessment report from the RBI.

Punjab National Bank share price opened down by 1.9%.

Speaking of the banking sector, note that 2019 has been brutal for some banking stocks.

The market has severely punished them. This is due to issues such as worsening asset-quality, corporate governance, and inadequate capital.

As can be seen in the chart below, here's how the correction looked like for some banking stocks as of October 15th...

Falling Knives in the Banking Sector

Falling stock prices could be enticing. After all, we love deep discounts and good bargains.

But if you're thinking of buying these stocks it's important to remember this point - If a stock is in a falling spree, there's probably a good reason behind it.

And realising this in a volatile market is the first step towards correcting one's investing process.

Moving on to the news from the pharma sector. Sun Pharma said that the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) conducted a Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) inspection at the company's Halol facility in Gujarat from 3-13 December 2019.

At the conclusion of the inspection, the agency issued a Form 483, with eight observations.

The company said it is preparing the response to the observations, which will be submitted to the USFDA within 15 business days.

As per the reports, the company is committed to addressing these observations promptly.

The company remains committed to working closely with the USFDA and continues to enhance its GMP compliance on an ongoing basis.

Sun Pharma share price opened the day down by 1.4%.

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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