At 13:20 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 190.96 points or 0.49% at 38,654.83. The Nifty 50 index lost 66.35 points or 0.58% at 11,438.85.

The broader market saw heavy selling. The S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 1.41% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index slipped 1.21%.

Sellers outpaced buyers. On the BSE, 820 shares rose and 1729 shares fell. A total of 171 shares were unchanged.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 205.15 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs), were net sellers to the tune of Rs 100.83 crore in the Indian equity market on 18 September, provisional data showed.

COVID-19 Update:

Total COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide stood at 31,028,757 with 960,698 deaths. India reported 10,03,299 active cases of COVID-19 infection and 87,882 deaths while 43,96,399 patients have been discharged, according to the data from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

India-China standoff:

Sixth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China on border stand-off will be held from Monday (21 September) at Moldo. The talks will include the implementation of a five-point agreement reached between the two Foreign Ministers at the SCO summit in Moscow on disengagement of troops and de-escalation of the situation in eastern Ladakh.

Parliament passes two Farm Bills:

Parliament passed two bills aimed at transforming agriculture in the country and raising farmers' incomes. The Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 which were passed by Lok Sabha on 17 September 2020, were passed by the Rajya Sabha on 20 September.

The new legislation will create an ecosystem where the farmers and traders will enjoy freedom of choice of sale and purchase of agri-produce. It will also promote barrier-free inter-state and intra-state trade and commerce outside the physical premises of markets notified under State Agricultural Produce Marketing legislations. The farmers will not be charged any cess or levy for sale of their produce and will not have to bear transport costs.

The Bill also proposes an electronic trading in transaction platform for ensuring a seamless trade electronically. In addition to mandis, farmers will get freedom to do trading at farmgate, cold storage, warehouse, processing units, etc. Farmers will be able to engage in direct marketing thereby eliminating intermediaries resulting in full realization of price. Farmers in Punjab, Haryana and several others states have been protesting against the new legislations ever since the bills cleared Lok Sabha earlier last week.

Economy:

India Inc's business sentiment has improved during July-September quarter as the government gradually unlocked the economy and business activity resumed, according to the CII's business outlook survey. The latest CII Business Confidence Index has surged to the level of 50.3 in July-September 2020, bouncing back from its lowest reading of 41 recorded in April-June 2020, the industry chamber said in a statement.

New Listing:

Route Mobile were trading at Rs 673 at 13:00 IST on the BSE, a premium of 92.29% over the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 350.

The stock was listed at Rs 708, a premium of 102.29% to IPO price of Rs 350 a share. So far the stock hit a high of Rs 735 and low of 625. On the BSE, 17.33 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far. The issue opened for bidding on 9 September 2020 and closed on 11 September 2020. The price band for the IPO was set at Rs 345-350 per share.

The IPO of Route Mobile received bids for 89.23 crore shares as against 1.21 crore shares on offer, as per the National Stock Exchange of India (NSE) website data. The issue was subscribed 73.30 times. The non-institutional investors category was subscribed 192.81 times. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) category was subscribed 89.76 times. The retail individual investors (RIIs) category was subscribed 12.67 times.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Ramco Systems was locked in an upper circuit of 5% at Rs 396.95 after the company said it signed an agreement with CHI Aviation for delivering the full suite Ramco Aviation Software. The agreement comprises maintenance & engineering, supply chain, MRO sales, flight operations, manufacturing, and finance.

Amber Enterprises India gained 0.66%. The company said that it had acquired 9,000 equity share of face value of Rs 1000 each, comprising of 20% stake, of Sidwal Refrigeration Industries. Accordingly, Sidwal Refrigeration Industries has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Amber Enterprises India with effect from 18 September 2020.

IRCTC rose 0.61%. Considering the huge demand for travel on specific routes, Ministry of Railways has decided to run 20 pairs of clone special trains from 21 September 2020. These clone trains will run on notified timings and will be fully reserved trains. The stoppages shall be limited to operational halts.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals (MRPL) fell 0.17%. The company said its shareholders approved the proposal to raise upto Rs 5,000 crore through issue of unsecured non-convertible debentures (NCDs)/bonds.

Tata Metaliks slipped 0.98%. The company on Saturday (19 September 2020) informed about the execution of a planned shutdown of one of its blast furnaces and its associated facilities at the company's Kharagpur plant for repair & maintenance including hearth profiling. The operations are expected to be back on stream in 2nd half of October 2020, it added.

Global Markets:

European markets declined in opening trades while most Asian markets were trading lower on Monday following the Wall Street sell-off on Friday.

Hong Kong-listed shares of Standard Chartered and HSBC slipped 2% to 3% today following reports that they allegedly moved large sums of suspicious funds. The moves came after the banks — among several global lenders — were identified in media reports as having allegedly moved suspicious funds over a period of nearly two decades, according to media reports.

The US stocks declined for third straight session on Friday, 18 September 2020, with the major averages finished firmly into negative territory, on rising tensions between the world's two largest economies after Trump administration announcement to ban Chinese-owned apps TikTok and WeChat from US app stores starting late on Sunday.

Meanwhile, selloff also fuelled amid renewed concerns about the economic outlook following the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed indicated it plans to leave interest rates at near-zero levels for years to come, traders seem skeptical that will be enough to support the economy.

US consumer sentiment index climbed to 78.9 in September from 74.1 in August, the University of Michigan released a report on Friday. The index reached its highest level since March but is still well below the pre-pandemic reading of 101.0 seen in February.

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