Sensex tanks over 700 points; PSU banks drag; Bharti Infratel slumps 9%

Bearish sentiment in global markets triggered sell-off in India, with key domestic indices ending lower. The market had opened higher, shrugging off worries over the US Federal Reserve's grim outlook for a speedy economic recovery. However, the opening gains were soon erased as fears of a second wave of coronavirus and the Supreme Court's (SC) observations in the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case weighed on market movers.

While the Sensex fell 708.68 points, or 2.07%, to 33,538.37, Nifty 50 settled 214.15 points, 2.12%, lower at 9,902.00.

Shares of State Bank of India plunged 5.5%, followed by Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank, Punjab National Bank and Axis Bank. The SC's comments against the department of telecommunications (DoT) demanding dues from public-sector firms may not bode well for recovery by banks exposed to telcos.

Power Grid Corp rallied due to the SC's comments, managing to hold some gains in a negative broader market, while Gail India and Oil India tumbled back into the red.

Of the total 50 stocks on Nifty, only six traded higher, with IndusInd Bank, Nestle, Hero MotoCorp, Britannia, Power Grid Corp and Mahindra & Mahindra gaining, while Bharti Infratel, Zee Entertainment, State Bank of India, Sun Pharmaceutical and Vedanta were among the biggest losers.

Stocks Asia tumbled in line with US equity futures as fears of a second wave of coronavirus and a cautious outlook from the Federal Reserve clouded hopes for a speedy economic recovery. While Japan's Nikkei 225 slumped nearly 3%, Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell over 2%. Korea and China were down about 1%.

Azim Premji-promoted Wipro opened the country’s first hospital dedicated to covid-19 treatment in Pune’s Hinjewadi area in Maharashtra. With 94,041 cases and 3,438 deaths, Maharashtra is the country’s worst-hit state by the covid-19 pandemic. The hospital has been set up on a public-private project (PPP) basis and is equipped with 504 beds. There are 18 ventilators, intensice care units (ICUs) and all other medical facilities.

Oil slumped in New York as the Federal Reserve forecast a long road to recovery for the US economy and American crude inventories rose to a record. Futures lost 3.5% to trade near $38 a barrel. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said the pandemic could inflict long-lasting damage on the economy and signalled it would keep rates near zero possibly for years to come, weighing on equity markets globally. There were also fears a second wave of infections in the US may derail its fragile recovery.

The IT services major, Infosys, is gearing up to address rising customer concerns around cyber security, heightened due to the impact of the covid-19 pandemic. “The pandemic has given a significant rise to a number of phishing, malware, and ransomware attacks that are targeting the current infrastructure because of the massive transition from working out of office to working from home,” said Vishal Salvi, chief information security officer (CISO) and head of cyber security at Infosys.

Movie production and distribution studio, Eros International Plc, has appointed Shikha Kapur as chief operating officer (COO), studios, for its subsidiary, Eros International Media. Kapur was earlier with Fox Star Studios and served as chief marketing officer.

European stocks suffered deep losses after the US Federal Reserve signalled a long road ahead for an economic rebound, and worries rose over a potential second wave of infections in America. While London's FTSE sinked 2.4%, CAC index in France and Germany's DAX dropped nearly 3% each.

The US Federal Reserve kept the target range for key policy rates unchanged at 0-0.25% and indicated that these low rates will remain until the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic.

As such, the Federal Open Market Committee members largely do not see rates rising until the end of 2022. The US central bank's maintaining of the quantitative easing programme at the current pace is also expected to keep liquidity taps flowing. This accommodative stance will aid the global economy, with Indian markets benefiting from the trickle-down effect.

Shares of RBL Bank soared more than 7% after Jasmine Capital Investments bought 16.7 million shares of the private lender. According to bulk deal data on stock exchanges, Jasmine Capital Investments purchased 16.7 million equity shares, or 3.29% stake, at ₹150.47 per share valued at ₹251.29 crore in RBL Bank.

Shares of Vodafone Idea plunged over 6% after the Supreme Court observed it cannot allow the extension requested by the department of telecommunications (DoT) to allow telecom operators to pay dues and penalties over 20 years. The apex court said the extention cannot be allowed based "on a promise... Nobody has seen 20 years".

Shares of Power Grid Corp, Gail India and Oil India surged over 3% after the Supreme Court observed that demand made by the department of telecommunications (DoT) to pay dues by these companies was impermissible and unnecessary. According to the DoT, Power Grid owed a little over ₹22,000 crore, while Gail India needed to clear dues worth ₹1.72 lakh crore and Oil India owed ₹48,489 crore.

The board of Tata Metaliks has recommended a dividend of ₹2.50 (25%) per equity share for the financial year 2019-20 to be given to the shareholders. The stock was up 2.5% at ₹504.00 on the BSE.

Thomas Cook (India), along with its group company, SOTC Travel, has launched ‘Assured’, a comprehensive program to safe travel amid the covid-19 travel disruptions. The companies have partnered with Apollo Clinics, a member of the Apollo Hospitals group, to jointly set a benchmark for safety in travel.

Shares of Vodafone Idea fell 10% on the stock exchanges, hitting the lower circuit, ahead of a Supreme Court hearing on the adjusted gross revenue (AGR) case. The hearing may include the government's application that telecom firms be allowed to spread the payment of their dues over 20 years or less.

Asian shares retreated as a gloomy outlook from the US Federal Reserve challenged market optimism over the global economy, while bonds rallied on speculation that yet more stimulus would be needed to ensure recovery. After a slow start, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 1.4%, likely putting an end to a 10-session winning streak. Japan's Nikkei slid 2.1% in its largest daily loss in five weeks, while Chinese blue chips eased 1%.

The board of Bharti Infratel postponed its decision to merge with Indus Towers after certain details it sought were delayed. “Certain inputs that would have been required by the board for it to deliberate and take a final decision have been delayed given the current environment. In view of the same, the said board meeting has been rescheduled for a later date but definitely on or before the current long stop date of 24t June, 2020,” the company said. The stock was down 2.4% at ₹227.40 on the BSE.