Sensex, Nifty Drops 272 Points on Global Selloff

Mumbai: BSE benchmark Sensex extended its losses for the second session on Monday in the holiday-shortened week by declining 272 points on heavy selling in realty, consumer durables, metal and auto counters amid weak global cues as political uncertainties in the US dampened sentiment.

After rising briefly to 35,910.67 at the outset, the 30-share quickly slipped into the negative terrain in line with a weak trend at other Asian markets and touched a low of 35,423.24 before ending at 35,470.15, down by 271.92 points, or 0.76 per cent.

The gauge had plunged 572.04 points on Friday.

Also, the broader NSE Nifty, after shuttling between 10,649.25 and 10,782.30 points, finally settled 90.50 points, or 0.84 per cent lower at 10,663.50.

According to analysts, profit-booking extended during the session following mixed cues from global markets on concerns over weakening global growth.

However, strengthening rupee and falling crude prices will continue to support domestic macros as indicated by positive foreign institutional investor (FII) flows.

On a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 488.55 crore, while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 134.14 crore on Friday, provisional data showed.

Global equities were subdued as a partial US government shutdown was set to stretch through Christmas, after Congress adjourned for the weekend with no deal in sight to end an impasse over funding for President Donald Trump's wall on the US-Mexico border.

As we enter futures and options (F&O) expiry week, movement in crude oil prices and currency, and any developments in ongoing winter session of Parliament will influence the trend of the market, said Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Among the laggard, shares of Hero MotoCorp suffered the most on Sensex by falling 4.27 per cent, followed by Bajaj Auto shedding 3.11 per cent.

Other losers were NTPC down 2.55 per cent, HDFC 2.44 per cent, Vedanta 2.15 per cent, Asian Paints 2.13 per cent, Tata Motors 2.05 per cent, HCL Tech 2.01 per cent, HDFC Bank 1.33 per cent, Bajaj Finance 1.28 per cent, Coal India 1.19 per cent, PowerGrid 1.12 per cent, Tata Steel 1.10 per cent.

L&T, IndusInd Bank, HUL, RIL, ONGC, Yes Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and ITC too fell by up to 1.08 per cent.

Bucking the trend, stocks such as M&M, TCS, Kotak Bank, Infosys, Bharti Airtel and SBI ended in the positive zone with gains of up to 1.03 per cent

Shares of state-run oil marketing companies like IOC, BPCL and BPCL, fell up to 3.33 per cent due to fresh rise in crude prices.

Brent crude, the oil prices international benchmark, rose 1.04 per cent to USD 54.66 a barrel Monday.

There was some sector-specific action as GST Council meeting changed tax slabs of 33 items like movie tickets, he said, adding that midcaps saw significantly deeper cuts than largecaps.

Sector-wise, the BSE realty index emerged as the biggest loser by falling 2.29 per cent, metal dropped 2.16 per cent, consumer durables 1.67 per cent, auto 1.38 per cent, power 1.05 per cent, oil and gas 1.06 per cent, capital goods 0.97 per cent, PSU 0.69 per cent, FMCG 0.63 per cent, healthcare 0.34 per cent and bankex 0.33 per cent.

The broader smallcap index and midcap indices too fell up to 1.14 per cent as investors booked profits.

In contrast, information technology, teck and telecom indices ended higher by up to 0.50 per cent.

The GST Council Saturday reduced tax rates on 23 goods and services, including movie tickets, TV and monitor screens and power banks, and exempted frozen and preserved vegetables from the levy.

The reduced rates are likely to come into effect from January 1, 2019, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters after the 31st meeting of Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council here.

Globally, in the Asian region stocks slid in Hong Kong and South Korea, while shares rose in China and Australia.

Hang Seng fell 0.62 per cent, Kospi shed 0.31 per cent, while Taiwan Capitalization Weighted Stock Index shed 0.07 per cent. Markets in Japan remained closed for a holiday. Shanghai Composite Index, however, was up 0.43 per cent.

In Europe, Paris CAC fell 0.78 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX rose 0.21 per cent. London's FTSE fell 0.52 per cent.