After trading in the negative territory during post noon trading session, the Indian equity markets lost further ground and closed the day deep in the red. While the BSE Sensex today closed lower by 855 points, the NSE-Nifty closed lower by 251 points. Midcaps and Smallcaps too got butchered today. Both the BSE Mid Cap index as well as BSE Small Cap index closed lower by 2.95%. Oil & gas and metal stocks were the biggest losers today. All sectoral indices closed in the red in today's trade.
As regards global markets, Asian pack too closed with red marks all over. Except for Shanghai composite index all indices ended lower. The rupee was trading at Rs 63.51 to the dollar at the time of writing.
FMCG stocks have ended the day on a weak note. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) has entered into an agreement with South African company named Frika Hair Ltd whereby it shall acquire the hair extension business of the latter. Frika has strong presence in South Africa and has offerings which include braids, wigs, hair pieces etc. The acquisition will help GCPL expand its presence in Africa from where it gets annualized revenue to the tune of US$200 m.
IT stocks closed weak today. The promoter shareholding of Infosys has come down to 13.08% in the December ending quarter from 15.92% in the September ending quarter. The fall in promoter shareholding is a result of stake sale by promoters on December 07, 2014 whereby collectively 10 promoters sold off 32.6 m shares aggregating to Rs 65 bn. This had led to a fall in stock price then. However, promoters have stated that the proceeds are expected to be used for philanthropic activities.
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