Weak global cues, caution ahead of Budget subdue equity indices




National Stock Exchange. Image credit: BananaIP Counsels

–TMC Desk

Mumbai, Jan 30: Key Indian equity indices on Tuesday gave up gains and slipped into the negative territory as weak global cues coupled with heavy selling pressure in consumer durables, banking and IT stocks kept investors’ sentiments subdued.

Market observers said investors turned cautious ahead of the Union Budget to be presented on February 1 (Thursday).

On a closing basis, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 80.75 points or 0.73 per cent to 11,049.65 points.

On the BSE, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) closed at 36,033.73 points — down 249.52 points or 0.69 per cent from its previous close.

The Sensex slipped below the 36,000-mark to scale a low of 35,993.41 points during intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was bearish as 2,097 stocks declined against 748 advances.

“Markets corrected on Tuesday as selling pressure emerged in the morning session. Investors were probably turning cautious ahead of the Union Budget 2018-2019 on Thursday,” Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

“Weak global cues also contributed to the weakness in the Indian markets,” said Jasani.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed lower by 0.67 per cent and the small-cap index by 1.34 per cent.

Provisional data with the exchanges showed that both foreign and domestic institutional investors turned net sellers and sold scrips worth Rs 105.56 crore and Rs 281.65 crore respectively.

The Indian rupee weakened by two paise to close at 63.60 against the US dollar from its previous close at 63.58.

“Sensex and Nifty edged lower following footsteps of Asian indices, as investors booked profits in recent outperformers such as index heavyweight HDFC Bank, while caution prevailed ahead of the Union Budget due later this week,” Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

Of the 19 sub-indices of the BSE, all closed with losses barring the S&P BSE oil and gas index which surged by 187.35 points.

Sectorwise, the S&P BSE consumer durables index declined by 401.04 points, banking index by 264.46 points and IT index by 137.96 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Tuesday were: Coal India, up 1.71 per cent at Rs 305.70; Hero MotoCorp, up 1.33 per cent at Rs 3,688.50; Sun Pharma, up 0.72 per cent at Rs 591.30; State Bank of India, up 0.56 per cent at Rs 312.85; and IndusInd Bank, up 0.24 per cent at Rs 1,745.

Major Sensex losers were: Asian Paints, down 2.22 per cent at Rs 1,128.90; Kotak Bank, down 2.20 per cent at Rs 1,089; Axis Bank, down 1.98 per cent at Rs 593.40; Dr Reddy’s Lab, down 1.86 per cent at Rs 2,312; and Adani Ports, down 1.84 per cent at Rs 428.50.

–IANS

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