Markets hit 6-month low on weak ₹, trade war concerns
MUMBAI: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty fell for the fourth session in a row to hit their over six-month low levels, dragged by information technology (IT) and pharma stocks as concerns over rupee fall, global trade war tiff and geopolitical tensions resurfaced.
The BSE index closed 287.15 points lower at 33,847.23, its weakest since April 10 last.
The NSE Nifty dropped 98.45 points to end at 10,146.80, registering its lowest closing since April 4.
However, short-covering by speculators towards the fag-end helped both the key indices to trim losses.
Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated to 73.82 (intra-day) against the US dollar, which too had a negative influence.
“Profit booking in IT & Pharmaceuticals stocks dragged the indices lower today. These two sectors were holding their ground recently while overall markets corrected. Investors choose to book some profits here as the tailwinds of depreciating currency are slowing,” said VK Sharma, head PCG & Capital Markets Group, HDFC Securities.
The 30-share index closed down 287.15 points or 0.84% at 33,847.23 after hitting a low of 33,742.75. This is the weakest closing since April 10 last, when it settled at 33,880.25. The index had lost 1,028 points in the previous three sessions.
The broader NSE Nifty too fell below the 10,200 level by dropping 98.45 points, or 0.96%, to end at 10,146.80. Intra-day, it touched a low of 10,102.35.
“In yet another volatile trading session, the Indian equity benchmark indices ended lower for fourth straight session, driven largely by weak global cues... Barring Power & Realty which ended marginally higher, all the other sectoral indices ended in the red with IT, Healthcare & FMCG being the top losers, down 1.2-2.8%. Globally, the Asian & European indices traded sharply lower,” experts said.
Overall market sentiment remained weak largely in sync with other Asian markets, tracking overnight losses at the Wall Street as caution grew ahead of a slew of earnings reports this week, brokers said.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares of ₹511.91 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth ₹303.21 crore, as per provisional data.
Asian Paint was among worst performer in the Sensex pack, falling 5.21%, followed by Sun Pharma at 5.07% after the company reported a 14.76% fall in its consolidated net profit to ₹506 crore for the September quarter Monday.
Other laggards included Wipro, TCS, Infosys, SBI, Vedanta Ltd, HUL, RIL, M&M, ICICI Bank, ITC Ltd, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Bank, and L&T, falling by up to 3.93%.
Bucking the trend, IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, HDFC Ltd, Yes Bank, Bajaj Auto, Kotak Bank, Adani Ports, Coal India, Axis Bank, Tata Steel and NTPC were top performers in the Sensex kitty, rising up to 2.62% and cushioned the fall.
Among sectoral indices, the BSE IT index suffered the most by falling 2.79%, followed by teck (2.48%, healthcare (2.34%), FMCG (1.18%), auto (0.73%), capital goods (0.69%), metal (0.69%), oil&gas (0.33%) and infrastructure (0.33%).
However, realty and power indices ended higher by up to 0.41%.
The broader markets followed suit with the small-cap index falling by 1.14%, while mid-cap index lost 0.76%.
In the Asian region, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped 3.22%, Japan’s Nikkei dropped 2.67%, while Shanghai Composite Index declined by 2.26%. Taiwan too fell 26% and South Korea down 2.57 per cents.
In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX was lower by 2.18%, while Paris CAC 40 fell 1.43% in their early deals. London’s FTSE too was down 0.93%.