FIRST TRADE: Sensex drops over 300 points, Nifty slips below 19,650; most blue-chips in the red

Stock market today: Indian benchmark indices declined in early deals on Wednesday amid broad-based selling on Dalal Street.

Both headline indices lost as much as 0.46 per cent within the first few minutes of trade. The Sensex lost 306.3 points to hit 66,153 and the Nifty slipped to as low as 19,640.2, down 90.35 points from its previous close.

As many as 42 stocks in the 50-blue-chip basket traded below the flatline. Tata Steel, Hindalco, Tata Consumer, Cipla and JSW Steel were the worst hit among the laggards, trading around 1-2 per cent lower. On the other hand, Adani Enterprises, Coal India, Adani Ports, Maruti Suzuki and ONGC were the top gainers, rising between 0.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent.

HDFC Bank, Hindalco, Hero MotoCorp were the top drags in the 30-scrip gauge.

Investors awaited more corporate results from India Inc for domestic cues. Titan, HPCL and IndiGo are scheduled to report their quarterly numbers on Wednesday.   

Buzzing stocks 

PVR-Inox shares gained by as much as Rs 48.2 or 3.1 per cent to Rs 1,614.1 apiece on BSE after the cinema operator reported a strong set of results for the April-June period. 

MOIL shares rose more than three per cent on the back of a positive monthly business update from the company. 

Som Distilleries shares gained by Rs 8.5 or 2.5 per cent to touch Rs 344.1 apiece on the bourse at the strongest level of the day so far, after the company received a go-ahead from the Rajasthan government to supply Indian-made foreign liquor brands in the state.

Conversely, the Cholamandalam Investment stock fell five per cent after the company reported a mixed quarterly performance. 

Sula Vineyards shares dropped by Rs 34.4 or 6.7 per cent to Rs 481.9 apiece on the bourse after the company received a notice of Rs 115.9 crore from the Maharashtra government.

Global markets 

Equities in other major Asian markets began the day in the red following mixed session on Wall Street after Fitch downgraded the US government's credit rating amid concerns over the state of the country's finances and its debt burden. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was down 1.7 per cent at the last count. Japan's Nikkei 225 was down two per cent.

On Tuesday, two of the three main US equity benchmarks — the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite — declined 0.3-0.4 per cent. The Dow Jones finished the day 0.2 per cent higher.

Caterpillar shares rose 8.9 per cent after the company blew past analysts’ earnings forecasts for earnings.

Uber shares fell 5.6 per cent after the ride-hailing company warned Lyft was competing effectively on prices and set an earnings forecast that analysts said may have disappointed investors who have driven up the stock two-fold this year.

(With inputs from agencies)

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