Global cues, sell-off in banking stocks subdue equities for 6th day (Roundup)

Heavy selling pressure in banking, capital goods and healthcare stocks, as also negative cues from Asian and European markets, dragged the key Indian equity indices lower for the sixth straight session on Wednesday.

The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) receded by 95.05 points, or 0.93 per cent, to close at 10,154.20 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed at 33,033.09 points -- down 284.11 points, or 0.85 per cent, from its previous session's close.

The BSE market breadth was remarkably bearish with 2,290 declines and 460 advances.

According to market observers, recent developments in the banking sector added to the downward trajectory of the key indices.

The S&P BSE banking index plunged by 381.31 points or 1.38 per cent, dragged by banking heavyweights like the Punjab National Bank (down 2.25 per cent), State Bank of India (SBI) (down 3.84 per cent), ICICI Bank (down 2.85 per cent) and Bank of Baroda (down 1.85 per cent).

"Markets corrected further on Wednesday -- it was the sixth consecutive session of negative closing for the Nifty. The weakness came on the back of weak global cues and concerns over the health of Indian banking sector on the back of recent events," Deepak Jasani, Head - Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.

"Metal and mining stocks too were under pressure on worries over import tariffs announced on steel and aluminum in the US. Sectorally, the top gainer was the FMCG index," Jasani added.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee closed at 64.89 against the US dollar.

In terms of investments, provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 719.78 crore, while domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 409.34 crore.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: "Weak global cues due to escalating trade war concern and widening probe in PSU banks led the domestic market to underperform."

"Consolidation in bond yield and ease in global market volatility is likely to provide some leeway to the current negative sentiment," Nair added.

Sectorwise, the S&P BSE banking index plummeted by 381.31 points, capital goods index by 361.47 points and healthcare index by 224.84 points.

On the other hand, the S&P consumer durables index rose by 77.13 points and the FMCG index by 9.17 points.

Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: ITC, up 1.05 per cent at Rs 259.20; Maruti Suzuki, up 0.70 per cent at Rs 8,679; Asian Paints, up 0.47 per cent at Rs 1,107.95; Tata Motors, up 0.40 per cent at Rs 348; and Bajaj Auto, up 0.36 per cent at Rs 2,910.45.

The Sensex losers were: Adani Ports, down 6.53 per cent at Rs 377.45; SBI, down 3.84 per cent at Rs 246.65; ICICI Bank, down 2.85 per cent at Rs 286.70; Bharti Airtel, down 2.53 per cent at Rs 403.40; and ONGC, down 2.32 per cent at Rs 180.95.

--IANS

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