Sensex dips 330 pts on Moody’s outlook cut

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark BSE Sensex tumbled 330 points on Friday, tracking losses in information technology (IT), consumer goods, metal and energy stocks after Moody’s cut India’s credit rating outlook citing growth concerns.

Despite trading on a weak note though the day, the 30-share Sensex briefly turned positive to hit a fresh intra-day high of 40,749.33. It, however, pared all gains to end 330.13 points, or 0.81% lower at 40,323.61. The broader NSE Nifty plunged 103.90 points, or 0.86%, to end at 11,908.15.

Top losers in the Sensex pack included Sun Pharma, Vedanta, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, ITC, NTPC, Asian Paints and Infosys, shedding up to 4.23%.

On the other hand, Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies rose up to 3.76%.

Moody’s Investors Service cut country’s credit rating outlook to negative, the first step towards a downgrade, saying the government has been partly ineffective in addressing economic weakness, leading to rising risks that growth will remain lower.

Following the news, domestic equities turned volatile and retreated from record peaks.

The Indian rupee also depreciated 33 paise to 71.30 against the US dollar intra-day.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Seoul settled on a negative note, while Tokyo ended in

SENSEX WAS BRIEFLY POSITIVE AND TOUCHED A NEW INTRA-DAY HIGH OF 40,749 BEFORE PARING GAINS TO END 330 POINTS LOWER

the green.

Exchanges in Europe too were trading lower in their respective early deals.

Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.24% to $61.53 per barrel.