Sensex, Nifty tumble for 3rd day, dragged by Kotak Bank, US trade deal uncertainty
Mumbai, Jul 28 (PTI): Falling for the third straight session on Monday, benchmark Sensex tumbled by 572 points to close at nearly a two-month low due to heavy selling in Kotak Mahindra Bank, forex outflows and uncertainty related to the India-US trade deal.
The 30-share BSE barometer tanked 572.07 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 80,891.02, a level not seen since June 4. During the day, it slumped 686.65 points or 0.84 per cent to 80,776.44.
The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 156.10 points or 0.63 per cent to close at a nearly two-month low of 24,680.90. As many as 35 Nifty shares declined, and 15 advanced.
Analysts said disappointing quarterly results and continued selling by FIIs dragged stock markets down for the third session in a row. Nifty has tanked over 2 per cent or 539 points while Sensex retreated by 1,835 points or 2.2 per cent to trade at near two-month low levels.
Among Sensex firms, Kotak Mahindra Bank tumbled the most by 7.31 per cent after the company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 4,472 crore for the June quarter, and flagged stress on the retail commercial vehicle portfolio due to adverse macroeconomic conditions.
The profit in the year-ago period was Rs 7,448 crore, but it had included gains of over Rs 3,000 crore on its stake sale in the general insurance arm, while the net profit for the March quarter stood at Rs 4,933 crore.
Bajaj Finance dropped 3.64 per cent amid asset quality concerns, while Bharti Airtel fell by 2.35 per cent.
Tata Consultancy Services dropped 1.76 per cent amid reports that the IT major has decided to lay off over 12,000 employees. Sources said that the IT Ministry is keeping a close watch on the entire situation and is in touch with the tech company over the matter.
Titan, HCL Tech and State Bank of India were also among the laggards.
However, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank and ITC were the gainers.
"Domestic market sentiment has remained cautious, weighed down by a disappointing set of Q1 earnings, delays in the India-US trade agreement, and continued FII outflows. In contrast, global markets remain broadly positive, supported by US-EU trade developments that are perceived as less concerning than anticipated.
"The upcoming monetary policy decisions from the Fed and BoJ, along with the trajectory of domestic quarterly earnings, are expected to play a pivotal role in shaping market direction in the near term," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The BSE smallcap gauge tumbled 1.31 per cent and midcap index fell by 0.73 per cent.
Among BSE sectoral indices, realty tanked 4.11 per cent, followed by telecommunication (1.56 per cent), capital goods (1.49 per cent), BSE industrials (1.40 per cent), teck (1.21 per cent) and metal (1.06 per cent).
FMCG and utilities were the gainers.
A total of 2,874 stocks declined while 1,264 advanced and 161 remained unchanged on the BSE.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,979.96 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.
In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled lower while South Korea's Kospi, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended in positive territory.
Markets in Europe were trading in the green. The US markets ended higher on Friday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.91 per cent to USD 69.05 a barrel.
The rupee pared initial gains and settled 15 paise lower at 86.67 (provisional) against the US dollar due to month-end dollar demand from importers.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
