Sensex Ends 224 Points Lower; Banking And Energy Stocks Witness Selling

Indian share markets continued to trade in the red during the closing hours of the trading session and ended the day on a negative note. Losses were largely seen in the energy sector and banking sector.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 224 points (down 0.6%) and the NSE Nifty closed lower by 74 points (down 0.7%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended lower by 0.7%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 0.8%.

Asian stock markets finished on a negative note as of the most recent closing prices. The Hang Seng stood down by 1.54% and the Nikkei was trading down by 2.02%.

European markets were also trading on a negative note. The FTSE 100 was down by 0.58%. The DAX was down by 0.70% while the CAC 40 was down by 0.23%.

The rupee was trading at 69.97 to the US$ at the time of writing.

From the banking space, Andhra Bank share price were witnessing selling pressure as the lender reported a loss of Rs 5.4 billion in June quarter against a profit of Rs 404 million a year ago.

Pharmaceuticals stocks were in focus today and were witnessing buying interest on the back of a fall in the Indian rupee.

As per the draft red herring prospectus filed by the company, the IPO is said to see the sale of up to 1,72,44,328 equity shares by existing shareholders as well as promoters.In the news from initial public offering (IPO) space, auto-components manufacturer Sansera Engineering has filed draft papers with capital markets regulator to float an initial public offering.

Speaking of IPOs, the stock market is gearing up for a burst of IPO activity over the coming months.

Also, according to EY India IPO Readiness Survey Report, globally, Indian exchanges recorded the highest IPO activity as the country saw 90 IPO launches that raised US$ 3.9 billion in the first half of this year.

Meanwhile, the amount raised by SME IPOs in 2017 stood at Rs 17.9 bn. This is more than three times the amount raised in 2016. The number of SME IPOs launched also doubled from 66 to 132. This is evident from the chart below: