Sensex falls by 160 pts on sell-off in IT, healthcare shares as RBI keeps rate unchanged
Mumbai, Aug 6 (PTI): Falling for the second day, benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 160 points on Wednesday due to selling in IT and healthcare shares amid the RBI policy decision to keep the key interest rates unchanged.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 166.26 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 80,543.99 with 18 of its constituents ending lower and 12 with gains. During the day, it declined 261.43 points or 0.32 per cent to hit a low of 80,448.82.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 75.35 points or 0.31 per cent to close at 24,574.20. In the intraday session, the index decreased 110.35 points or 0.44 per cent to hit a low of 24,539.20.
Among the Sensex firms, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Eternal, Tata Consultancy Services, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, ITC and L&T were the major laggards.
Asian Paints, Mahindra & Mahindra, BEL, Adani Ports, State Bank of India, Trent, HDFC Bank were among the gainers.
"Despite renewed trade tensions—stemming from the U.S.—the domestic market remained resilient, holding firm near the key support level of 24,500. The pharma sector underperformed, emerging as a notable casualty of the tariff warnings," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept its policy interest rate unchanged on Wednesday, as policymakers weighed the risks posed by US President Donald Trump's trade policies and the uncertainties surrounding the potential for higher tariffs.
The RBI also retained the GDP growth projection for the current fiscal year at 6.5 per cent while lowering the inflation forecast to 3.1 per cent from 3.7 per cent.
The BSE smallcap gauge declined 1.14 per cent and the midcap index by 1 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Focused IT fell by 1.78 per cent, followed by Heathcare (1.72 per cent), IT (1.64 per cent), Realty (1.55 per cent), Teck (1.20 per cent), Industrials and Capital Goods (0.83 per cent each), FMCG (0.80 per cent), Telecommunication (0.75 per cent) were among the laggards.
Bankex is the only gainer.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 3,50,296.28 crore to Rs 4,45,19,999.04 (USD 5.08 trillion) in two days of fall in the equity market.
"Participants were awaiting the outcome of the MPC meeting, which was in line with expectations, as the policy rate remained unchanged and the neutral stance continued. As a result, there was no significant market reaction," Ajit Mishra, SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed in the positive territory, while South Korea's Kospi settled on a flat note.
The European markets are trading in the green territory. The US markets ended lower on Tuesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.61 per cent to USD 68.73 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 22.48 crore while Domestic Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 3,840.39 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Sensex fell by 308.47 points to close at 80,710.25 and Nifty dipped 73.20 points to 24,649.55 on Tuesday.
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Russian military hardware, spare parts for Indian military to be manufactured in India
New Delhi (PTI): Russia agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of military hardware and spare parts for maintenance of Russian-origin arms and defence equipment.
Ways to bolster overall bilateral defence cooperation figured prominently during summit talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.
It has been a long-standing grievance of armed forces that the supply of critical spares and equipment from Russia takes a long time, affecting the maintenance of military systems procured from that country.
"Both sides agreed to encourage joint manufacturing in India of spare parts, components, aggregates and other products for maintenance of Russian origin arms and defence equipment under Make-in-India programme through transfer of technology," a joint statement said.
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It said both sides also agreed to set up joint ventures for meeting the needs of the Indian armed forces as well as subsequent export to mutually friendly third countries.
The joint statement said the India-Russia defence partnership is being reoriented to take up joint co-development and co-production of advanced defence technology and systems.
In their meeting on Thursday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and his Russian counterpart Andrey Belousov resolved to expand bilateral defence cooperation.
In the meeting, the Indian side showed keen interest in procurement of additional batches of S-400 missile systems from Moscow to bolster its combat prowess.
In October 2018, India signed a USD 5 billion deal with Russia to buy five units of the S-400 air defence missile systems, notwithstanding a warning by the US that going ahead with the contract may invite US sanctions under the provisions of Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
Three squadrons have already been delivered.
The S-400 systems played a crucial role during Operation Sindoor. India may also look at procuring the S-500 missile systems from Russia.
In the Modi-Putin talks, the two sides also agreed to continue jointly developing systems of bilateral trade settlements through the use of national currencies.
Additionally, the two sides agreed to continue their consultations on enabling the interoperability of the national payment systems, financial messaging systems, as well as central bank digital currency platforms.
Modi and Putin appreciated the ongoing intensification of the joint work on a free trade agreement on goods between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, covering sectors of mutual interest, the joint statement said.
They also directed both sides to intensify efforts in negotiations on a mutually beneficial agreement on the promotion and protection of investment, it said.
India and Russia also welcomed steps to ensure long-term supply of fertilisers to India and discussed the potential establishment of joint ventures in this area.
