CarTrade Tech stocks made a weak debut in the stock markets.
Benchmark indices have seen no rest in selling pressure in early afternoon trading following a gap-down opening following a negative start in European markets and weakness from the Asian moth for the second straight session. Global equities have stumbled over the past two days, plagued by fears of Fed winding down and renewed concerns about the Covid pandemic.
At 1:30 p.m., the BSE Sensex was trading at 55,391.55, 241.50 points lower, or 0.44 percent, and the NSE Nifty stood at 16,454.75, down 111.45 points, or 0.67 percent. The broader markets underperformed their large-cap peers, with the BSE Midcap Index and BSE Smallcap Index losing 0.6 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
All sectoral BSE indices are in the red, with the exception of the FMCG index. Metals stocks took the brunt of today’s session, with the metals index losing more than 5 percent, while a sharp plunge in iron ore futures around the world shocked investors worldwide.
The Federal Reserve’s July meeting hinted that stimulus would be eased this year, amid disagreements among officials over the labor market recovery and the degree of risk from rising coronavirus cases.
Meanwhile, CarTrade Tech stocks made a weak debut in the stock markets. Shares of the multi-channel automotive platform, CarTrade Tech, opened at Rs 1,599.80 on the NSE compared to the issue price of Rs 1,618, representing a discount of 1.12 percent.
On the stock-specific front, Tata Steel has fallen more than 6 percent to Rs 1,406 to top the losers list on the BSE. Among other metal stocks, JSW Steel and Hindalco lost 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively. Pharma stocks have also succumbed to selling pressure, with Sun Pharma and Dr. Reddy’s lost about 2 percent each.
On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints and Nestle each gained 2-4 percent on the BSE. The breadth of the BSE market is weak. Of the 3,241 shares traded on the BSE, 2,372 are declining shares versus 735 advances.
