Indo-Pak tensions drag markets: Nifty ends below 9400, Sensex drops 200 pts

Benchmark indices settled lower with the S&P BSE Sensex shedding 200 points and Nifty 50 ending below 9,400-level as investors booked profit in recent outperformers. The sentiment was also dragged by geopolitical tensions as Indian army strikes Pakistan military posts.
 
The street also took cues from the global markets which were mostly trading lower post the explosion, at a concert by US singer Ariana Grande shook Manchester.
 
The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 30,365, down 205 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,386, down 52 points. The broader market underperformed the benchmark indices with S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap indices dipped over 1% each.

"Investors became cautious after sudden hike in Indo-Pak tension. Additionally, higher than expected GST rate especially for consumer oriented durables is impacting the market. Pharma continued to taste bitterness in earnings due to high competition which is impacting the sentiment of the sector for the long-term," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"If we look at the overall price movement in the index, it does not portray a clear picture of the market activity. Our market has been vacillating in a tight band 100 – 120 points since last few days but the overall stock specific damage has been so fierce," said Sameet Chavan, equity technical analyst at Angel Broking in an emailed note.

"Now, the Nifty has closed tad above the important support level of 9372, which we continue to consider as an important support level for the index. As long as it manages to hold this on a closing basis, a possibility of decent recovery to test the 9600 mark cannot be ruled out. On the higher side, intraday hurdles are seen at 9480 – 9510," he adds.

 
Buzzing Stocks
 
Maruti, M&M, Wipro, Tata Steel and HeroMoto Corp gained the most on BSE Sensex while Adani Ports, Cipla, Sun Pharma, and GAIL fell the most on the index.
 
Pharma stocks were the biggest losers with Nifty Pharma posting sixth consecutive session of loss. The sectoral index fell over 3% dragged by Sun Pharma, Aurobino Plarma and Cipla
 
Sun Pharma fell as much as 6% to 601.500 rupees to its lowest since November 9 after Taro Pharmaceutical Industries reported 25.9% fall in net sales for the March quarter. Taro accounts for about one-fifth of Sun Pharma's revenue and profit. The stock posted its biggest intraday percentage drop since December 7. The stock ended 4% lower.
 
Aurobindo Pharma lost over 5% on Tuesday after investors reacted to the developments around the insider trading case with the SEBI.
 
Jindal Steel and Power fell over 4% after its fourth-quarter consolidated loss narrowed, helped by higher revenue primarily from its iron and steel business.
 
FMCG stocks snapped two sessions of gains, with the Nifty FMCG index dropping almost 1%. Both ITC and Dabur India, down 1% and 1.2% respectively, posted their first loss in three sessions.
 
Shares of state-run GAIL fell as much as 5.8% to their lowest since February 15 but later pared losses to end 2.5% lower after the company posted a 69% fall in Q4 profit on Monday, on account of impairment charge on an investment.
 
Bucking the broader trend, IT stocks and auto stocks gained with Tech Mahindra up 1%, and Maruti Suzuki advancing 2.8%.
 
Global Markets
 
Globally, Asian stocks were mixed after the suspected terrorist attack in Manchester that killed at least 19 people and wounded 59. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan pared gains after hitting its highest level since June 2015 to trade fractionally higher while Japan's Nikkei slid 0.2%.
 
Sterling slipped on Tuesday post the explosion while the euro held gains made after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it was "too weak".
 
Despite the attack, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2%, gaining pace after a sluggish opening as banking stocks headed higher. Germany's DAX was up 0.3% while euro zone blue chips gained 0.6%.
 
China's CSI 300 index, swinging between gains and losses, were last up 0.3% after earlier losses on concerns over a regulatory crackdown on risky lending practices. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 0.15% after earlier rising to its highest level since July 2015.