Mumbai– Disappointing quarterly results, along with heavy selling pressure in capital goods, IT and FMCG stocks pulled the key domestic equity indices lower on Thursday.
Market observers opined that broadly negative global cues such as fears over the rise in geo-political tensions in the Middle East and future rate hike in the US eroded investors risk taking appetite.
Index-wise, the broader Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 10,679.65 points — down 38.40 points or 0.36 per cent — from the previous session’s close.
Similarly, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) ended in the red on Thursday. The Sensex opened at 35,257.31 points and closed at 35,103.14 points — down 73.28 points or 0.21 per cent — from its previous close.
The Sensex touched a high of 35,257.31 points and a low of 35,020.08 during the intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,848 declines and 817 advances.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE mid-cap declined by 1.16 per cent while the S&P BSE small cap fell 0.84 per cent.
“Markets corrected on Thursday as the Nifty ended in the red for the second consecutive day. The weakness seemed to have come on the back of negative global cues,” Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
“Major Asian markets have closed on a negative note barring the Shanghai index. European indices like FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX are trading in the red.”
According to Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services: “The global market is trading weak as US starts trade talk with China while any escalation of trade war will dampen investor’s sentiment.”
“Back home, results and upcoming state election will give near term direction.”
On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by one paise to 66.65 against the US dollar from its previous close at 66.66.
In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 148.42 crore, and the domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 578.92 crore.
Sector-wise, the S&P BSE metal index rose by 109.85 points, followed by the banking index which was up 64.28 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE capital goods index slumped 312.11 points, the IT stocks fell by 217.33 points and the FMCG index by 128.60 points.
The major gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma, up 3.68 per cent at Rs 534.50; NTPC, up 2.32 per cent at Rs 174.40; Tata Steel, up 1.84 per cent at Rs 585.65; Axis Bank, up 1.71 per cent at Rs 532.40; and ICICI Bank, up 1.61 per cent at Rs 281.55 per share.
The top losers were Wipro, down 1.94 per cent at Rs 270.15; Kotak Mahindra Bank, down 1.90 per cent at Rs 1,233.40; Asian Paints, down 1.74 per cent at Rs 1,200.50; Larsen and Toubro, down 1.52 per cent at Rs 1,380.25; and Hindustan Unilever, down 1.39 per cent at Rs 1,451.00 per share. (IANS)
