Blue-chips fail to make the cut, Sensex down 134 points

The BSE benchmark Sensex was off to a solid start on Thursday but in the end, let go of all the gains and ended the day 134 points down as blue-chips Bajaj Auto and Lupin took a beating after their quarterly earnings and profit-booking kicked in.

For most of the session, the market traded in a thin range. June quarter numbers from other companies remained off-colour, which clouded the sentiment.

On top of it, too, the rupee’s fall against the dollar made investors cautious.

The 30-share Sensex started on a firmer footing at 28,540.97, hitting the day's high of 28,578.33 on hopes of passage of the key GST Bill and stronger Asian markets.

But in a reversal of fortunes, selling pressure built up in afternoon trade as the index closed the session lower by 134.09 points, or 0.47 per cent, at 28,370.84.

Of the 30-share index, 18 ended in the red. Even the NSE Nifty closed shy of the 8,600 level, down 43.70 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 8,589.80. Intra-day, it shuttled between 8,654.75 and 8,573.80.

Lupin was the big loser. The scrip fell 5.23 per cent after the drug maker reported a 16 per cent drop in consolidated net profit at Rs 525 crore for the June quarter. Bajaj Auto too felt the heat, down 5.02 per cent, after its earnings numbers fell short of the crease despite a 37.14 per cent rise in standalone net profit. Sector-wise, technology fell the most followed by banking, capital goods, information technology and healthcare. European stocks were trading in the positive terrain while in Asia, key indices ended higher.

"The market closed negatively after trading sideways to negative during the day due to lack of fresh triggers. Investors remained on the sidelines in the absence of a positive surprise from the quarterly earnings," said Alex Mathews, Head Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

BSE small-cap was up 0.51 per cent, while mid-cap closed lower by 0.16 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net bought shares worth Rs 450.32 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) turned net sellers at Rs 351.77 crore, provisional data showed. Pramit Brahmbhatt, Veracity Group CEO, said: "Investors preferred to book profit at higher levels as they doubted the further upside in the market. Now, the investors are waiting for the release of US unemployment data due for the day."

The market breadth stayed positive as 1,531 stocks ended higher, 1,311 lower, while 126 ruled steady. Total turnover rose to Rs 3,402.78 crore, from Rs 2,925.66 crore on Wednesday.