Stocks reel over political, crude oil prices concerns
MARKET BLUES Sensex slumps 300 points, Nifty falls below the 10,600mark MUMBAI:
Equities wilted under selling pressure for the fourth straight session on Friday, capping off the worst week for investors this fiscal amid political uncertainties and spiking crude oil prices. The benchmark Sensex slumped 300 points to end at 34,848.30, while the broader NSE Nifty cracked below the 10,600-mark.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex lost 687.49 points, or 1.93%, while the Nifty tumbled 210.10 points, or 1.94%—their biggest fall since the week ended March 9. No let-up in selling by foreign funds and rising global crude oil prices, which hovered near $80 per barrel, affected investor sentiment, brokers said.
The political cauldron in Karnataka remained on the boil, with the Supreme Court asking BJP’s B S Yeddyurappa government to prove its majority in the assembly on Saturday.
The 30-share Sensex opened lower and stayed in the negative terrain for the major part of the session, hitting a low of 34,821.62 before ending at 34,848.30—down by 300.82 points, or 0.86%. The 50-share NSE Nifty settled 86.30 points, or 0.81%, lower at 10,596.40. During the session, it moved between 10,589.10 and 10,674.95.
“Market edged lower as global trade tensions and concern on domestic macros due to weak INR and rising oil price dampened the sentiment. As on date Q4 results came below estimate which may cause downgrade in FY19 estimates. Consolidation may extend as rise in yield will add volatility in the market. However, interventions from RBI may curb steep fall in rupee and are likely to give support to the market,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net sold shares worth ₹830.94 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of ₹428.92 crore on Thursday, provisional data from stock exchanges showed.
State-run banks remained under selling pressure on disappointing quarterly results due to a jump in provisions for bad loans. Shares of Allahabad Bank, SBI, Punjab National Bank, Bank of Baroda, Syndicate Bank, Andhra Bank and Union Bank of India declined by up to 4.67%.
In the Sensex kitty, L&T emerged the worst performer by falling 3.54%, followed by ICICI Bank at 3.21%. Other laggards were Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Wipro, Maruti Suzuki, ONGC, Coal India, M&M, Adani Ports, Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, NTPC, HDFC Ltd, HDFC Bank, Power Grid, Dr Reddy’s and Infosys, falling up to 3.21%. However, HUL, Kotak Bank, IndusBank, ITC, Hero MotoCorp, TCS and Yes Bank ended with gains.
All sectoral indices, except BSE FMCG, ended in the red. The BSE capital goods index lost the most at 3.05%, followed by metal (2.36%), infrastructure (2.21%), healthcare (2.06 %), auto (1.82%), realty (1.74%), PSU (1.60%), oil and gas (1.46%), power (1.38%) and bankex (0.78%). FMCG index advanced 0.88%.
Broader markets too showed a similar trend as investors cut down their bets, with the smallcap index falling 1.62%and midcaps losing 1.47%.
Overseas, other Asian markets were mixed amid caution over developments in US-China trade negotiations. Singapore fell 0.23%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.34%. Japan’s Nikkei too gained 0.40% and China’s Shanghai Composite Index rose 1.24%. Taiwan drifted lower by 0.03%. In Europe, Frankfurt’s DAX fell 0.12%, while Paris CAC shed 0.28% in early deals. London too shed 0.23%.