Sell-off in auto, metal stocks drags Sensex down by 424 pts
MUMBAI: The BSE Sensex plummeted over 424 points, while the Nifty finished below the 11,000mark on Friday, led by a sharp sell off in auto and metal stocks amid renewed concerns over the Us-china trade conflict.
Investors preferred to book profits following robust gains over the previous few days, even as the risk appetite was tempered by valuation and macroeconomic concerns, traders said.
The 30-share Sensex cracked 424.61 points, or 1.15%, to finish at 36,546.48 points. The broader NSE Nifty slumped 125.80 points, or 1.14% to 10,943.60 points.
During the week, the Sensex gained 77.05 points, or 0.21%, while the Nifty rose 49.95 points, or 0.45%.
Heavy selling in metal and auto counters led to a sharp drop at the fag end of the session on Friday.
Tata Motors was the biggest loser on the Sensex, taking a knock of 17.93%, after the auto major reported its biggest ever quarterly net loss of ₹26,960.8 crore for the December quarter, hit by a one-time asset impairment in its struggling British arm Jaguar Land Rover.
Other laggards included Vedanta, Tata Steel, NTPC, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC), L&T, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M), Coal India, Maruti, Powergrid, Axis Bank, ITC and HDFC, dropping up to 5.75%.
Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Hero Motocorp rose up to 0.95%.
The BSE Metal index plunged 3.42%, while the auto gauge shed 3.37%.
Sectorally, consumer, banking and pharma indices also ended in the red. Realty was the only gainer.
“Markets slid on renewed worries over global trade and profit booking after the solid performance in the last one week due to interim budget and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) policy,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
“A fall in interest rates and improving outlook for consumption oriented sectors after interim budget will provide support to the market,” Nair added.
Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIS) bought shares worth a net of ₹418.01 crore on Thursday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIS) were net buyers to the tune of ₹294.11 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
On the global front, fears of an economic slowdown resurfaced after US President Donald Trump said he does not expect to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the March 1 deadline in trade war negotiations between the two superpowers.
A top White House adviser on Thursday said Washington and Beijing were still a “sizeable distance” apart in the trade talks, and no date has been set for a meeting between the countries’ leaders.
Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.87% lower on Thursday.
Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei cracked 2.19%, while Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.20% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.16%.
The rupee, meanwhile, appreciated 32 paise against the US dollar to 71.13 intra-day. The benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.28% to $61.80 per barrel.