MARKET WRAP: Sensex slips 82 pts, Nifty gives up 11,800; pharma stocks fall

Stocks witnessed a lacklustre trade on Tuesday amid lack of any positive triggers and fears of spreading coronavirus. According to a Reuters poll, India's GDP (gross domestic product) grew 4.7 per cent in the October-December period of the financial year 2019-20 (FY20). 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 40,281, down 82 points or 0.2 per cent. Sun Pharma (down over 2 per cent) emerged as the biggest loser on the index while TCS (up 2 per cent) gained the most. 

Market breadth remained in favour of sellers as out of 2,616 companies traded on the BSE, 964 advanced and 1,469 declined while 183 remained unchanged. As many as 58 securities hit their 52-week high on the BSE while 183 securities fell to 52-week low. 

On the NSE, the 50-share Nifty index slipped below the key level of 11,800 to end at 11,798, down 31.5 points or 0.27 per cent. 

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index lost 68 points or 0.4 per cent to settle at 15,376 while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,448, down 65 points or 0.45 per cent. 

On the sectoral front, Nifty Pharma index dropped over 2 per cent to end as the biggest sectoral index loser. The index closed at 7,937 levels. On the other hand, realty and IT stocks made decent gains. 

GLOBAL MARKETS 

Global stock markets stabilised on Tuesday after a wave of early selling petered out and Wall Street futures managed a solid bounce after the previous day’s sharp selloff on fears about the spreading coronavirus. MSCI’s All Country World index, which tracks shares across 47 countries, was down 0.16 per cent, paring some earlier losses when Asian markets were trading. The index suffered its biggest daily drop in two years on Monday.

In commodities, oil steadied after shedding nearly 4 per cent on Monday. US crude was up 0.2 per cent at $51.55, while Brent crude firmed 0.4 per cent to $56.51.

(With inputs from Reuters)