Mumbai–Weak fourth quarter results and selling by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) dragged the key equity indices lower on Thursday with fresh US-China trade tensions weakening investor sentiments further.
While cutting its 2019 global growth forecast, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has earlier said that the escalation of US-China trade tensions was one factor that has contributed to a “significantly weakened global expansion” late last year.
The BSE Sensex fell on Thursday by 230.22 points, or 0.61 per cent, to 37,558.91 and the broader Nifty declined 57.65 points, or by 0.51 per cent.
“Domestic market is on a consolidation mode as the pre-election rally is fading. Investors have turned cautious as domestic valuations are not so comforting given weak results leading to downgrade in earnings,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
“This negative trend may get extended given the slowdown in institutional flows and premium valuation. On the global front, escalation in US-China trade tensions ahead of the upcoming meetings further accentuated the consolidation.”
Zee Entertainment jumped over 7 per cent after the promoters said that they hope to complete its stake sale soon.
The top losers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries, down over 3 per cent as brokerages downgraded the stock due to cyclical headwinds in the energy business, said Deepak Jasani of HDFC Securities.
It was followed by Coal India, NTPC, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel.
Among the top gainers was Yes Bank, jumping nearly 6 per cent despite India Ratings’ downgrade of its long-term ratings to ‘IND AA’ with a negative outlook.
Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, Hindustan Uniliver and TCS also surged between 0.8 to 2 per cent. (IANS)
