Indian share markets slipped deeper in the red in the post-noon trading session. Barring FMCG, all the stocks are trading in the red. IT and engineering stocks are the biggest losers today.
BSE-Sensex is down 264 points and NSE-Nifty is trading 87 points down. Both BSE Mid Cap and BSE Small Cap indices are trading down by 0.9%. The rupee is trading at 61.91 to the US dollar.
Majority of the large software stocks are trading in the red with HCL Infosys and Infosys being the biggest losers. As per a leading financial daily, Infosys founders have put 32.6 m shares of the company on the block. The company's founders N R Narayan Murthy, Nandan Nilenkani, K Dinesh and S D Shibulal and their families have decided to sell 25% of their holding of 124 m shares at base price of Rs 1,988 per share. The total worth of the founder's stake offered for sale is around $1.1 bn. The company has not disclosed the reason for the sale share citing family affair of the promoters, none of whom are actively involved in the company's business any more. Infosys stock is trading down 4.4% presently.
Most of the energy stocks are trading in the red with Gujarat State Petronet and Petronet LNG being the major losers. As per a leading financial daily, the gross refining margins (GRMs) of state-owned refiners such as Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) declined to a four-year low. The fall has been on account of low prices of petrol and diesel that forms a bulk of sales for the two companies. GRM is the difference between purchase price of crude and the end price of the refined product. The major refined products include petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG, furnace oil and naptha. Therefore GRMs depend on the weighted average of the price difference of each refined product with crude oil prices also known as crack. Reportedly the petrol to WTI crude crack and diesel to Brent crack has contracted more sharply than the price of crude in the last four years. The margins of Indian state refiners are not only getting impacted by weak cracks but also inventory losses due to time difference between purchase of crude and sale of final refined products.
For information on how to pick stocks that have the potential to deliver big returns, download our special report now!
Read the latest Market Commentary
Equitymaster requests your view! Post a comment on "Indian share markets slump". Click here!
Comments are moderated by Equitymaster, in accordance with the Terms of Use, and may not appear
on this article until they have been reviewed and deemed appropriate for posting.
In the meantime, you may want to share this article with your friends!