Sensex ends 115 points lower, Nifty at 8,104; telecom sector drags

Sensex fell as much as 150 points during after-noon trade dragged by losses in Sun Pharma, Asian Paints and HDFC

Extending losses for a fourth straight session, benchmark indices settled on a lower note amid mixed global cues as Asian shares neared four-week low.
 
Sensex fell as much as 150 points during after-noon trade dragged by losses in Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, HDFC and Bharti Airtel. Broader Nifty50 index also slipped below 8,100 level.  
 
S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 26,375, down 115 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 8,104, down 35 points.
 

Broader market performed in line the headline indices with BSE Midcap and Smallcap down 0.51% and 0.46% respectively.

"It is not a surprise that domestic market continues to consolidate with negative bias. And this caution will hold its trend as foreign inflows are lukewarm while domestic confidence is low. FIIs are cautious on EMs while dollar is strengthening. Domestic market is overhanging in expectation of weak Q3FY17 results, risk of further slowdown in March quarter and postponement of GST," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

 
Sectors and stocks
 
Shares of oil marketing companies (OMCs) settled higher in otherwise weak market after these companies raised petrol and diesel prices with effect from midnight of 16th / 17th December 2016.
 
The S&P BSE Oil & Gas index, the largest gainer among sectoral indices settled 0.93% higher. Petnonet LNG (3.44%) was the top gainer in the index followed by IOC, GAIL, BPCL.
 
Pharma, telecom, metals, realty, consumer durables and auto sector indices dragged the index down. Majority of the sectoral indices ended the day in red.
 
GAIL, ICICI Bank, Cipla and NTPC were the top gainers on BSE Sensex while Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, HDFC and Bharti Airtel were the top losers.

 
Among other stocks, Tree House Education & Accessories ended almost 20% down at Rs 19.10, its new low on the BSE. The stock fell after Zee Learn called off its proposed merger and threatened to take legal recourse to seek damages from the failed deal. 
 
Global Markets
 
Asian shares slipped to four-week lows on Monday as the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates and a strong dollar stemming from the incoming Trump Administration's purported policies of cutting taxes and spending heavily threatened to suck capital out of emerging markets. 
 
European shares are seen having better luck, following recent gains in shares of banks, resource companies and some automakers.

 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS dipped 0.3%  to a four-week low. It has lost 3.7% since Trump was elected.
 
Leading the losses, Hong Kong shares hit a four-month low as the Hong Kong dollar soared in line with the US dollar to which it is pegged, and after insurance shares were hit by a Chinese regulator's warnings. nL5N1EB03X.
 
In addition, investors turned cautious after China's top leaders vowed over the weekend to stem asset bubbles in 2017 and place greater importance on the prevention of financial risk
 
Japan's Nikkei, which has benefited from the yen's sharp fall against the dollar, snapped its nine-day winning streak, dipping 0.1% from Friday's one-year high.

 
The pan-European Euro Stoxx 600 opened slightly lower, dropping 0.21%, with most sectors trading in the red.
 
Basic resources were leading the falls on news that Chinese authorities are foreseeing a lower growth rate in 2017.
 
(With inputs from agencies)