Sensex Today: Sensex ends 769 points lower, Nifty at 10,797; ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel top losers

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty rose with Sensex are likely to open with minor changes, backed by a flat opening of the SGX Nifty at the Singapore Exchange. On the last trading day, Nifty ended trade 74 points higher at 11,023 and Sensex closed higher by 263 points at 37,332 mark.
 

Net investment of equity and debt reported by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) has turned bullish from the long term bearish trend, with net buying logged at Rs 1,162.95 crore into Indian equities while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), kept with the bullish trend as well, with net buying worth Rs 1,502.27 crore on Friday.

 

The world's most profitable company plans to list in Saudi Arabia and on an international exchange. Saudi Arabia's energy minister says the head of the kingdom's sovereign wealth fund is replacing him as chairman of the board of Saudi Aramco as the state-run oil giant plans an initial public offering.

The move puts some distance between Khalid al-Falih's energy ministry portfolio and Aramco, which Saudi officials say could be listed in 2020 or 2021.

Saudi Aramco gets new chairman as IPO planning heats up

State-run Punjab National Bank (PNB) on Monday said its board would consider capital infusion of up to Rs 18,000 crore in its meeting later this week.

On Saturday, PNB had said in an exchange filing that it would consider infusion up to Rs 16,500 crore by the government through preferential issue of equity shares and fixing date of extraordinary general meeting (EGM) for obtaining shareholders approval in this regard at a price determined in terms of the market regulator SEBI.

PNB to consider infusion of Rs 18,000 crore at board meet this week 

In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the country's biggest car maker Maruti Suzuki said it produced a total of 111,370 units in August, 2019 as compared to 168,725 units produced in the same month last year. The mini segment, which comprises cars like Alto and old WagonR, saw the steepest decline of 62.93 per cent with the company producing just 13,814 units against 37,268 units rolled out in the year-ago period.


The total production of mini and compact segment cars including New WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire dropped by 34.1 per cent to 80,909 units as against 1,22,824 units in August last year, it said.

On Sunday, Maruti Suzuki India reported a 32.7 per cent decline in sales at 1,06,413 units in August as compared to 1,58,189 units sold in the same month last year. Exports in August were down by 10.8 per cent at 9,352 units as compared to 10,489 units in the same month last year.


Slowdown Blues: Maruti Suzuki cuts production for 7th straight month in Aug, output drops by 34% 

Jio GigaFibre will kick-start its commercial services in India from September 5. Consumers eagerly await the rollout after the announcement was made on August 12 by Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL), Jio Fiber is set to revolutionise the digital space in India.

Jet Airways that is undergoing insolvency proceedings has failed to attract any new bidders during the extended period for submission on initial bids. This is the third time lenders extended the deadline after August 3 and 10. The third deadline for submission of Expression of Interest (EoI) ended on August 31.

With no new bidders coming forth, the grounded airline has only three entities that had put in initial bids earlier, which are Russian Fund Treasury RA Partners, Panama-based investment firm Avantulo Group and South American conglomerate Synergy Group Corp.

Jet Airways' Committee of Creditors (CoC) extended the deadline for submission of EoIs on August 26.

Jet Airways crisis: Airline fails to attract new bidders during third extended deadline

Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) on Saturday announced signing a share subscription and shareholder agreement to acquire up to 55 per cent stake in ride hailing company Meru Travel Solutions Private Limited in tranches. In a regulatory filing, the automaker said that it would make a primary investment of up to Rs 103.5 crore for the stake acquisition but the "final purchase price will be arrived at after making customary closing adjustments".

M&M is not the first automaker to show interest in the ride hailing space. Earlier this year, Hyundai Motor Co and its affiliate Kia Motors Corp  invested Rs 2,000 crore in market-leader Ola.

Mahindra and Mahindra signs deal to acquire 55% stake in Meru  

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman kindled hopes of a GST rate cut on the same day that several leading auto players announced dismal sales figures for August. The auto industry has long called for a reduction in the GST rate from 28 per cent to 18 per cent to accommodate the downturn.


Centre looks to cut GST rates on cars amid sharp decline in sales  

 
Shares of public sector banks (PSBs) are likely to lead a market rally on Tuesday after the government announced a mega consolidation plan for public sector banks to boost credit and revive economic growth.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday announced the merger of 10 public sector banks into four entities to make them stronger and sustainable as well as increase their lending ability. The Punjab National Bank will be merged with Oriental Bank and United Bank to make it the second-largest PSB with Rs 18 lakh crore business and second-largest branch network in India.

PSBs likely to rally on mega merger announcement; PNB, Canara Bank, BoI to be in focus
 

The Tata Steel Ltd said on Monday it would shut parts of its non-core businesses in the United Kingdom, a move that could cost about 400 jobs.

The steelmaker proposed to close its loss-making Orb Electrical Steels site in South Wales, potentially affecting up to 380 jobs, as it was "unable to find a way forward" for the business, it said in a filing to Indian stock exchanges.

Tata Steel to shut some operations in UK, 400 jobs at stake
 

Sensex Today: Sensex has fallen over 100 points and Nifty is trading at 11,960 level by the Tuesday's morning session. In today's session, PSU bank indices have fallen over 1.60%, followed by 1.45% fall registered each in realty and auto sector scripts. Only IT sector is trading on the green.

The data was released after GDP growth rate of India fell to a six-year low of 5 per cent during the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal. Dwindling growth in key industries further emphasises on the economic slowdown reflected in the dismal GDP figures.

Growth in eight core sectors of India slipped to 2.1 per cent during July, in comparison to 7.3 per cent during the corresponding month last year, government data released on Monday showed. The cumulative growth across these eight industries during the April to July period in the current fiscal stood at 3 per cent, compared to 5.9 per cent in the year-ago period.Growth in eight core sectors saw marginal growth during July 2019 in comparison to the the previous month. During June 2019, the figure stood at 0.7 per cent.

"The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 per cent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP). The combined Index of Eight Core Industries stood at 131.9 in July, 2019, which was 2.1 per cent higher as compared to the index of July, 2018," the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement on Monday.

Growth in eight core sectors slows down to 2.1% in July from 7.3% last year
 

The BSE on Friday said it will introduce weekly futures and options contracts in the equity derivatives segment from September 19 onwards.

The exchange in a notice said it will introduce 7 weekly futures and 7 weekly options contracts on stocks in equity derivatives with effect from Thursday September 19, 2019.

The weekly futures and options contracts will expire on every Thursday of the week, excluding monthly expiry week.The exchange in the notice also provided a list of 149 stocks along with tick size, lot size and price band on which weekly futures and options contracts will be available.

(PTI)

Globally markets are trading lower on trade war worries. China on Monday said it had lodged a complaint against the US with the World Trade Organization (WTO), one day after additional 15% tariffs were imposed by US on Chinese goods imports worth $125 bn came into force. Moreover, China has retaliated with increased duties on a variety of American goods, including soybeans & crude oil.

On the Singapore Exchange, SGX Nifty traded flat at 10,942. Yesterday, on Wall Street, US Futures (Dow Jones) traded down 143 pts at 26263.

 

Expect market to open on a weak note on account of global cues. US Future declined over half percent or 171 points (yesterday US market closed on account of Labor day) concern of trade war between US-China. #MOMarketUpdates

— Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (@MotilalOswalLtd) September 3, 2019

Crude oil fell below $59/bbl and Indian Rupee gained 38 paise to close at 2-week high.

A major fire has broken out at an ONGC plant in Navi Mumbai. The fire broke out at 7am on Tuesday in Uran. According to initial reports, several people are feared trapped inside the premises.

Fire-fighting operations are underway. Officials have said that there are no casualties so far.

It is yet to be ascertained what caused the fire.

ONGC fire services and crisis management team immediately jumped into action. There has been no impact on oil processing. Gas has been diverted to Hazira Plant.

Major fire breaks out at ONGC plant in Navi Mumbai; rescue operations underway

Although U.S. President Donald Trump has said both sides would still meet for talks later this month, tensions have shown little sign of abating.
 

Asian markets have declined in the last two trading sessions. SGX Nifty declined over 100 points after adjustment. #MOMarketUpdates

— Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (@MotilalOswalLtd) September 3, 2019

 

Rupee breaches 72 mark after opening lower at 72.05 versus Friday's close of 71.40 against the dollar, when the domestic unit gained 38 paise to close at 2-week high.

The rupee depreciated 65 paise against its previous close to trade at 72.07 in early session.

Indian rupee marked the worst monthly loss in six years amid foreign fund outflows and weaker domestic macro environment. Rupee lost 3.79% to 71.41 against U.S. dollar in August month.

On the other hand, IT stocks rallied as the rupee depreciated 65 paise against its previous close to trade at 72.07 in early session.

In an attempt to boost economic growth, the government on Friday unveiled a mega plan to merge 10 public sector banks into four as part of plans to create fewer and stronger global-sized lenders.

It gives a positive signal that the government is not just focusing on recapitalising the bank but also in improving the governance in the public sector banks (PSBs), Matthews said. "Measures taken to improve the efficiency of the PSBs is in the right direction as they are competing with the private sector."