Sensex and Nifty opened sharply lower today amid a rout in global equities. Asian stock markets are trading with sharp losses after an overnight tumble on Wall Street.

Indian stock markets were under pressure today amid a rout in global equities. The Sensex fell over 300 points while Nifty traded near 10,150 levels. However, falling crude prices could lend some support to the Indian markets on the downside, say analysts. Oil prices slipped amid concerns over global growth. Brent crude fell 69 cents to $75.48 a barrel, while US crude dropped 54 cents to $66.28. Asian markets fell sharply today after a rout in tech stocks inflicted the largest daily decline on Wall Street since 2011, wiping out all its gains for the year. L&T Finance Holdings Ltd fell sharply after it reported exposure to IL&FS and real estate firm Supertech

Here are the updates from stock markets:

1) Sentiment in Indian markets has been sour in recent months after a string of defaults by IL&FS sparked concerns of a liquidity crunch. Sensex has given up its gains for the year while midcap and smallcap stocks are nursing big losses.

2) Shares of IT major Wipro were up 1% after the outsourcer for the quarter to end-September, posted a net profit of Rs 1,889 crore, after taking a one-time charge due to the settlement of a legal dispute, compared with Rs 2,192 crore a year earlier. That was below analysts’ average estimate of 21 billion rupees, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

3) IndiGo shares were down nearly 1% today after InterGlobe, which operates India’s biggest airline, reported a loss of Rs 652 crore for the quarter ended September 30 – its first since listing on the stock exchange in November 2015. Higher fuel prices and a weaker rupee have pushed up costs at Indian airlines including IndiGo, the largest domestic carrier by market share, while intense competition has limited its ability to raise fares, putting pressure on yields.

4) Shares of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd fell 10% To Rs 115 after it reported exposure to IL&FS and real estate firm Supertech. The company said it has exposure of Rs 1,800 crore to IL&FS group and Rs 800 crore to Supertech. IDFC Bank Ltd fell 2.1% to Rs 34.45 after the bank reported a net loss of Rs 369.69 crore for the September quarter due to higher provisioning even as the bank’s bad loans came down. Hexaware Technologies shares fell 6% to Rs 330 after the company reported lower-than-expected profit. The company reported a net profit of Rs 172 crore for the quarter ended 30th September 2018, up 21% from the corresponding quarter last year.

5) MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan skidded about 2%. Japan’s Nikkei tumbled 3.5% to a six-month trough while Australian shares hit a more than one-year low. Overnight on the Wall Street, disappointing forecasts from chipmakers hammered the tech sector. They followed weaker-than-expected forecasts on Tuesday from industrial giants Caterpillar and 3M.

6) The Nasdaq fell 4.4% in its biggest one-day percentage decline since August 18, 2011, closing down 12.4% from its August 29 record closing high. In dollar terms, the Nasdaq meltdown vaporised $524 billion in market capitalisation overnight. The Dow fell 2.41% and the S&P 500 lost 3.09%.

7) Weak readings on manufacturing in Europe added to concerns over world growth, as did a surprise slump in US home sales, which suggested rising interest rates were sapping demand for housing.

8) Global financial services major Citi has lowered its global growth forecast for both 2019 and 2020 by 0.1 percentage point each to 3.2% and 3%, respectively, it said in a note Thursday, citing policy tightening by the US Federal Reserve.

9) Adding to investors worries, police intercepted suspected bombs mailed to former U.S. President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and other high-profile Democrats, as well as to CNN, in what New York officials branded an act of terrorism.

source: livemint.com