The postponement of a key meeting between the government and its communist allies on the proposed nuclear deal between US and India keeps the future of the deal uncertain. Talks were set to take place Wednesday, 18 June 2008, in New Delhi, but Communist leaders say the meeting will now take place on 25 June 2008. The delay comes as Left wing parties’ reffirm their opposition to the agreement, saying it undermines India's independent foreign policy and nuclear weapons program. As per reports, CPM a key left party may be working on a plan to pull out support to the UPA government.
Asian markets, which opened before Indian markets, were trading weak. Key indices in China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan were down by 1.62% to 3.37%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its lowest level in three months on Wednesday, 18 June 2008, as worries about a weak US economy compounded by credit sector concerns dragged down shares in banks, autos and transport firms.
At 10:20 IST, the 30-share BSE Sensex was down 199.08 points or 1.29% at 15,223.23. The index shed 231.07 points at the day’s low of 15,191.24 hit in early trade.
The broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 55.30 points or 1.21% at 4527.10.
The market breadth was weak on BSE with 570 shares advancing as compared to 1035 that declined. 33 remained unchanged.
The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.58% to 6,323.11 and BSE Small-Cap index was up 0.56% to 7,731.50.
India's largest drug maker by sales Ranbaxy Laboratories declined 4.15% at Rs 573.40 after the company agreed to keep generic versions of the Pfizer's cholesterol pill Lipitor off the US market for extra 20 months. As per the agreement, Ranbaxy will not sell a generic of Lipitor, the world's best-selling drug, until November 2011. Ranbaxy was the top traded counter on BSE with a turnover of Rs 96.72 crore.
The other major Sensex losers were, Maruti Suzuki (down 3.01% at Rs 742), Larsen & Toubro (down 2.15% at Rs 2691.45), Bharat Heavy Electricals (down 2.25% at Rs 1466), and State Bank of India (down 1.84% at Rs 1326.50).
The top Sensex gainers were, ACC (up 1.37% at Rs 652), Hindalco Industries (up 0.725 at Rs 175.55), Ambuja Cements (up 0.77% at Rs 91.30), and Tata Steel (up 0.33% at Rs 825.40).
India's largest private sector firm by market capitalisation and oil refiner Reliance Industries lost 1.23% at Rs 2255.30. RIL has a highest weightage of 15.72% in BSE Sensex.
India's largest private sector bank by assets ICICI Bank fell 2.21% at Rs 765. ICICI Bank has a third highest weightage of 8.27% in BSE Sensex.
India’s second largest software exporter by sales Infosys Technologies fell 1.32% at Rs 1841. Infosys has a second highest weightage of 8.59% in BSE Sensex.
Light, sweet crude oil jumped $2.67 to $136.68 per barrel on the New York Mercantile on Wednesday, 18 June 2008, after the US Energy Department said the country’s crude oil stockpiles fell less than expected last week but that gasoline supplies had declined.
Back home, market settled lower yesterday, 18 June 2008, led by weak European markets and deferral of a crucial UPA-Left coordination committee meeting on Indo-US nuclear deal scheduled yesterday, 18 June 2008. The 30-share BSE Sensex lost 274.59 points or 1.75% at 15,422.31 and the broader based S&P CNX Nifty was down 70.6 points or 1.52% at 4582.40, on that day.
As per provisional data, foreign funds sold shares worth a net Rs 435 crore while domestic mutual funds bought shares worth a net Rs 193.64 crore yesterday, 18 June 2008.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers of Rs 192.64 crore in the futures & options segment yesterday, 16 June 2008. They were net sellers of index futures to the tune of Rs 682.33 crore and bought index options worth Rs 359.98 crore. They were net buyers of stock futures to the tune of Rs 133.45 crore and sold stock options worth Rs 3.74 crore.