Disinvestment plan fails to cheer stock market, Nifty closes below 11,970

Equity benchmark indices ended marginally lower after a muted trading session on Thursday, a day after the government announced strategic sale in five public sector units and approved the proposal for mitigating financial stress being faced by telecom operators.

At the closing bell, the BSE S & P Sensex was down by 76 points at 40,575 while the Nifty 50 ended 31 points lower at 11,968. Most sectoral indices were in the red except for Nifty media which gained by 4.08 per cent, financial service and realty which were up marginally.

However, Zee Entertainment gained by 11.73 per cent at Rs 343 per share after the parent Essel Group announced plans to sell 16.5 per cent stake in the subsidiary company to financial investors. The group has to repay loan obligations to certain lenders.

Eicher Motors, Dr Reddy's, Adani Ports and Hindustan Lever closed the day with marginal gains.

But Bharat Petroleum Corporation dropped by 5.97 per cent after the government approved sale of its entire 53.29 per cent stake along with the transfer of management control.

Even telecom stocks traded lower despite the Union Cabinet approving the proposal to mitigate financial stress being faced by the sector. Vodafone Idea closed over 6 per cent down and Bharti Airtel slipped by 2.4 per cent as the government's move failed to cheer investors.

Reliance Capital was locked in lower circuit after plunging 5 per cent after Delhi High Court placed restrictions on any sale, disposal or creation of any encumbrance on the company's assets of the company till December 16. The other prominent losers were Tata Steel, Yes Bank, ONGC, GAIL, ITC and Maruti Suzuki.

Meanwhile, Asian shares dropped as a fresh row between Washington and Beijing over US bills on Hong Kong could complicate their trade negotiation.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.57 per cent while Japan's Nikkei dropped by 0.48 per cent. Chinese mainland shares dropped by 0.25 per cent and South Korea's Kospi by 1.35 per cent.

The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed two bills intended to support protesters in Hong Kong and send a warning to China about human rights.

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