Inflation, global cues depress equity indices; metal stocks slump
Mumbai, July 16 : Rise in wholesale inflation rate and broadly weak global cues subdued the key Indian equity indices on Monday, with the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closing below the 11,000-mark.
According to market observers, heavy selling pressure was witnessed on the metal, healthcare and auto stocks.
Index-wise, the broader NSE Nifty50 closed at 10,936.85 points -- lower by 82.05 points or 0.74 per cent from its previous close of 11,018.90 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensex on the BSE, which had opened at 36,658.71 points, closed at 36,323.77 points -- down 217.86 points or 0.60 per cent -- from its previous close of 36,541.63 points.
The bearish momentum on the Sensex could be gauged from the fact that its intra-day high was its opening level of 36,658.71 points. It touched a low of 36,298.94 points during the day.
"Surge in inflation and weak global cues influenced investors to book profit from the recent rally while IT index maintained the uptrend followed by earnings," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
The wholesale inflation rate for June was recorded at 5.77 per cent, compared to 4.43 per cent in the previous month, according to data released on Monday.
Abhijeet Dey, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund's Senior Fund Manager for Equities, said: "A higher inflation rate in a flat-to-slowing growth environment can be detrimental for the economy."
Major Asian markets closed on a negative note and the European indices like FTSE 100 and CAC 40 traded in the red, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
Nair also said the trade tensions and weak rupee negatively impacted the performance of broad indices.
In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap and the S&P BSE small-cap declined significantly, by 2.45 per cent and 2.51 per cent respectively. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 2,052 declines and 546 advances.
On the currency front, the rupee weakened by five paise to end at 68.58 per dollar, against the previous close of 68.53 per greenback.
Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 625.68 crore and the domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 70.30 crore.
Sector-wise, the gainers were the S&P BSE IT index and the teck (technology, entertainment and media) stocks which rose by 112.89 points and 23.91 respectively.
On the contrary, the S&P BSE metal index plunged 461.08 points, the healthcare index was down 458.49 points and the auto index ended 402.05 points lower from its previous close.
The major gainers on the Sensex were NTPC, up 1.96 per cent at Rs 155.70; Infosys, up 1.83 per cent at Rs 1,333.05; HDFC, up 0.95 per cent at Rs 1,991.55; Wipro, up 0.86 per cent at Rs 283.10; and Hindustan Unilever, up 0.73 per cent at Rs 1,753.85 per share.
The top losers were Tata Steel, down 6.96 per cent at Rs 519.30; Tata Motors (DVR), down 5.02 per cent at Rs 142.75; Tata Motors, down 4.77 per cent at Rs 251.55; Sun Pharma, down 4.69 per cent at Rs 532.95; and Bharti Airtel, down 3.31 per cent at Rs 346.20 per share.
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Surat LS candidate Nilesh Kumbhani whose nomination form was rejected suspended from Congress
Ahmedabad, Apr 25: The Gujarat Congress on Friday suspended from the party for six years its Surat Lok Sabha candidate Nilesh Kumbhani, whose nomination form was rejected over discrepancies leading to the BJP's Mukesh Dalal getting elected unopposed.
A statement from the Congress said the party's disciplinary committee decided to suspend Kumbhani after thorough discussion, adding it had come to the conclusion that the nomination form was rejected due to gross negligence on his part or "in connivance with the BJP".
"To be fair to you we have given time to you to explain your case but instead of coming before the party disciplinary committee you have gone incommunicado. After your form was rejected by the authorities, BJP went ahead and got form of other eight candidates withdrawn. This has deprived people of Surat their voting rights," the Congress disciplinary committee headed by Balu Patel said.
"People of Surat and party workers have become very angry due to your action and are expressing their anger in different ways. The Congress party has decided to suspend you for six years from the party," the press note said.
Kumbhani's nomination form was rejected on April 21 after his three proposers submitted affidavits to the district returning officer claiming the signatures on the document was not theirs.
The nomination form of Suresh Padsala, the Congress' substitute candidate from Surat, was also invalidated on the same grounds.
In his order, Returning Officer Sourabh Pardhi said the three nomination forms submitted by Kumbhani and Padsala were rejected after prima facie discrepancy was found in the signatures of the proposers and they did not appear to be genuine.
Kumbhani, a former corporator from Surat, had unsuccessfully fought the 2022 Assembly polls from Kamrej there.
The Bharatiya Janata Party's Mukesh Dalal was elected unopposed from Surat Lok Sabha constituency on April 22 after all other nominees, including one from BSP, withdrew from the fray one by one on the last day of withdrawing papers.
