The Indian stock market plunged for the seventh straight day, with the benchmark breaking key support levels, as uncertainty over economic growth and corporate profits persisted. Investors will keep an eye on the two-day Goods & Services Tax Council meet which begins later in the day. The GST Council will discuss drafts of the model GST, integrated GST and states’ compensation bills.

NSE Nifty was down 82 points and closed at 7,979, while BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 263 points at 25,980.

The Sensex drifted below 26,000 level, while the broader Nifty50 slid below the crucial 8,000 level for the first time since November 25.

Sentiments remained down-beat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top economic adviser Bibek Debroy has said that the negative shock from demonetisation will last until the end of March, though he also said that improved growth next year should fully compensate for the loss.

All the sectors closed in red and heavy selling pressure was seen in metal, banking, financial services, IT, telecom, realty and utilities sectors.

On the global front, Asian markets closed lower on Thursday. Hang Seng slipped 1%, while Shanghai Composite closed marginally up.

European markets were lower as trading desks began to thin out on the last full day of work for London’s financial sector before the long Christmas break. FTSE 100, DAX and CAC40 were trading marginally lower.

Metal stocks fell 1-4% today as global base metal prices slipped. Nifty Bank ended at lowest level since June 30, below 17,900 level dragged by Axis Bank, SBI, IndusInd Bank and Canara Bank, dropped between 2-2.5%.

Mandhana Retail Ventures Ltd hits 5% lower circuit at Rs 184.30 on the BSE. The shares hit a lower circuit of 4.98% to Rs 182.15 and this was the fifth lower circuit in five days for the company.

JBF Industries Ltd tanked 4.3% to Rs 221 on the BSE after Copthall Mauritius Investment sold entire 3.94% stake in the company.

Phoenix Mills Limited rose 2% after the company has informed the exchanges that its wholly owned subsidiary Island Star Mall Developers Private Limited has entered into a non-binding term sheet with Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on the basis of which the proposed investor may, subject to execution of definitive agreements by the parties and fulfillment of conditions as may be applicable from time to time, over a 3 year period acquire up to 49% of the post issue paid up-up equity share capital of ISML (on a fully dilute basis).

Empee Distilleries soared 2.3% to Rs 54.60 on the BSE. The company’s board meeting is scheduled to be held on December 26, to consider and approve sale of 1,95,12,997 equity shares of Rs 10 each held by the company in Empee Hotels (unlisted entity).

SPARC gained 1.5% after the pharma company has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the USFDA for the New Drug Application (NDA) for Xelpros, Latanoprost BAK-free eyedrops.

Gold was trading at Rs 27,097 per 10 gms and silver was trading at Rs 39,500 per kg.

The rupee was trading at 67.87 per dollar.

Out of 1886 stocks traded on the NSE, 886 declined and 697 advanced today.

Top 5 Nifty Gainers: Sun Pharma (1.82%), Bajaj Auto (0.64%), HDFC (0.59%), ONGC (0.49%) and Hero MotoCorp (0.38%).

Top 5 Nifty Losers: M&M (-1.70%), Tata Motors (-1.63%), Adani Ports & Sez (-1.36%), Axis Bank (-1.35%) and NTPC (-1.34%)

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Nifty opened above 8100 but was unable to sustain the same and lost momentum towards the end of trading hours. Sensex also closed in red and was down 0.25%.

For Nifty, 8150 remains the important immediate resistance for the index, sustaining above which buying might have been seen, however, as the market reached the closing hours it lost the resistance and touched a 1-month low.

As per the IMF (International Monetary Fund), most countries in the Middle East (which are largely responsible for the oil glut), including Saudi Arabia, will run out of cash within five years if oil stays below US$50 per barrel.

Moving on to the news from stocks in consumer durables sector. Titan Company Limited’s sales, both in the jewellery and watches segments, took an immediate hit in the days following the government’s demonetisation announcement on November 8.

The sales were impacted as much as 25% in the week following the decision of scrapping out higher denomination notes. For the entire month, the drop was around 5%. The impact has been felt more in smaller towns and on the network of around 800 dealers the company has, across the country. This was on account of cash being the preferred mode of payment.

Conversely, plastic card usage by customers had picked up at the retail stores. About 50% of the sales prior to demonetisation, card usage is over 70% now, the company stated.

Not surprisingly, sectors whose revenues have been hit the hardest by demonetisation have seen the biggest declines in their stock prices. The worst affected businesses are real estate, consumer durables and auto sectors.

However, the company expects to sustain the growth momentum in spite of some temporary setback due to demonetisation. Overall, Titan expects the growth in turnover to be in single digit this fiscal.

Nifty was down 21 points and closed at 8,061, while BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 66 points at 26242.

Nifty sectoral indices ended on a mixed note. Nifty Realty gained over 1% while Nifty FMCG dipped over 1%. While, Nifty Metal index ended on a positive note up 0.5%. The Nifty Metal index rose for the first time in four sessions led by gains in shares of Welspun Corp, Hindalco Industries and Hindustan Zinc. This positive trend was supported by a rise in rupee against the dollar.

The India VIX (Volatility) index was up 0.84% at 14.66. The BSE Midcap closed at 11984 and Smallcap indices closed at 11950. BSE Midcap closed marginally low while BSE Smallcap closed marginally high.

Gold was trading at Rs 27,097 per 10 gms and silver was trading at Rs 39,500 per kg.

The rupee was trading at 67.87 per dollar.

Out of 1886 stocks traded on the NSE, 886 declined and 697 advanced today.

Top 5 Nifty Gainers: Hind. Unilever (0.58%), Tata Motors (0.46%), Sun Pharma (0.39%), GAIL (0.07%) and Wipro (0.04%).

Top 5 Nifty Losers: Tata Steel (-2.27%), Adani Ports & Sez (-2.01%), Bharti Airtel (-1.59%), HDFC (-1.58%) and Axis Bank (-1.57%)

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Nifty PSU Bank index extended its losses and fell by 3% to a one month low even as Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the RBI is releasing adequate amount of currency everyday. TCS was the biggest gainer of the day and was up by 2.23%, while Mahindra & Mahindra Financial, Bharat Financial Inclusion, Bajaj Finance were down in the range of 2-6%.

Nifty closed at 8,082.40, down 21.95, while BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 66.72 points at 26,307.98.

Non-banking finance companies witnessed a fall. Experts said they have taken a hit due to uncertainty over earnings after demonetisation and as Maharashtra government said it will set up a probe on violations by microfinance companies in the state.

Public banks have been under pressure for the past few sessions as some of the measures announced by the RBI to incentivise digital payments are seen increasing their cost of operations.

The stocks of Mahindra & Mahindra Financial, Bharat Financial Inclusion, Bajaj Finance, Can Fin homes, Dewan Housing Finance were down 2-6%.

Most Asian indices ended down as shares in the emerging markets declined after the Bank of Japan kept its key policy rates unchanged. However, rates in Japan rose after the country’s central bank upgraded its outlook for the Japanese economy.

Straits Times traded at 2,911.31 and Hang Seng was at 21,729.06, both in red, whereas Nikkei 225 traded in green at 19,494.53 at the time of the filing of this report.

Reliance Communications fell 2.4% as Fitch cut its debt rating to B+. Oil and Natural Gas Corp hit a low as oil ministry seeks to halve crude oil cess to 10% in the budget.

The Indian rupee was down as foreign banks buy dollars, likely for FPI’s outflow from domestic markets. Dollar demand from oil importers and a rise in dollar globally were the factors that contributed to the downfall.

Gold was at Rs 27120 and silver was at Rs 39085.

The rupee is trading at 67.90 as per dollar.

Out of 1447 stocks traded on the NSE, 1040 declined and 356 advanced today.

Top 5 Nifty Gainers: Bajaj Auto (1.12%), Lupin Ltd. (1.04%), HDFC (0.96%), Maruti Suzuki (0.85%) and SBI (0.77%).

Top 5 Nifty Losers: TCS (-0.76%), GAIL (-0.61%), Tata Motors (-0.51%), L&T (-0.50%) and ITC Ltd. (-0.48%)

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