D-Street Buzz: Over 350 stocks hit 52-week low on BSE; HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank down 6%

The Indian stock market continues trading in the red following Asian peers with Sensex is down 1,120.84 points or 3.76% at 28694.75, and the Nifty down 301.30 points or 3.48% at 8358.95.

IMF chief announced that the globe has entered into recession which would be worse than financial crisis seen in 2008-2009.

“It is clear that we have entered a recession” that will be worse than the one witnessed in 2009 following the global financial crisis, Kristalina Georgieva, IMF chief said in an online press briefing.

Among the sectors, Bank Nifty was down over 4 percent dragged by HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank which shed over 6 percent each followed by Federal Bank, Bank of Baroda, RBL Bank and YES Bank.

The Reserve Bank of India on March 28, 2020 said it has approved the amalgamation of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India into Punjab National Bank, Syndicate Bank into Canara Bank, Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank into Union Bank of India and Allahabad Bank into Indian Bank. The scheme will come into force with effect from April 1, 2020 and all the branches of Oriental Bank of Commerce and United Bank of India will function as branches of PNB branches; Syndicate Bank branches into Canara Bank branches; Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank branches into Union Bank of India branches and Allahabad Bank branches into Indian Bank branches. Following the consolidation, there will be seven large public sector banks and five smaller ones. There were as many as 27 PSBs in 2017, according to a report by CNBC-TV18.

RBI's statement comes after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's clarification on March 26 that the mega bank consolidation plan was very much on track and would take effect from April 1.

Nifty has been seeing erratic swings in a broader range and we do not see this changing any time soon. The range for the next week could be 7,600-9,500 levels. While mostly sectoral indices are trading in line with the benchmark index, defensive viz. FMCG, pharma and IT are looking comparatively stronger. Considering the scenario, traders should limit their positions and prefer only hedged trades, said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research at Religare Broking.

Nifty Auto was down over 5 percent dragged by Eicher Motors, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, MRF, Tata Motors, TVS Motor Company and Bajaj Auto.

Moody's Investors Service has placed the ratings on Tata Motors on review for a possible downgrade. The review, which will be completed over the next 90 days, is on the Ba3 corporate family rating and Ba3 senior unsecured debt rating, Moody's said in a statement.

As per data shared by the SIAM, passenger vehicle sales in the domestic sector during April-February declined by 15 percent to 2.63 million units while commercial vehicle segment reported a fall of 22 percent compared to the same period last year.

Traders are advised not to take aggressive / leveraged bets and should ideally keep booking profits on a regular basis. For a time being, the strategy would be to take one step at a time and keep focusing on quality names,” Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives at Angel Broking

India VIX is up 3.20 percent at 72.64 level.

355 stocks hit 52-week low on BSE including JSPL, Eicher Motors, Sun TV, Cummins India, Future Retail, TVS Motor, Vedanta and Indian Oil Corporation among others.

373 stocks hit lower circuit including Future Retail, Indiabulls Ventures, IDFC and AU Small Finance Bank among others.

About 799 shares have advanced, 1284 shares declined, and 148 shares are unchanged.