Profit booking in banks drags Sensex 239 pts; Nifty manages to hold 10,000
The market extended losses for the second consecutive session Thursday, with the Sensex shedding 282 points intraday on continued profit booking in banking & financials post RBI policy. Weak Asian cues and disappointing July services PMI also hit market sentiment.
The 50-share NSE Nifty managed to close above 10,000 level, down 67.85 points at 10,013.65 after hitting an intraday low of 9,998.25.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 238.86 points to 32,237.88 on weak market breadth. More than two shares declined for every share rising on the BSE.
“As prices go up, chances of correction are higher potential of risks are more than ever before,” Pramod Gubbi, Head, Equities, Ambit Capital, told CNBC-TV18. He remains cautious, given the fundamental view on the valuations.
The excess liquidity in the system could result in shallow or phase-based correction, he said.
Meanwhile, business conditions in India’s service economy deteriorated markedly in July following the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST). The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services PMI Business Activity Index plunged from June’s eight-month high of 53.1 to 45.9 in July, its lowest level since September 2013, as per IHS Markit survey.
The rupee closed at 63.69 against the US dollar, up 1 paise from 63.70 on Wednesday.
All sectoral indices closed in red, with the Nifty Metal index falling the most (down 1.91 percent) followed by Bank (down 1.52 percent) and Pharma (down 1.24 percent).
Shares of HDFC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, SBI and Axis Bank were among top 9 contributors to Sensex’ losses, down 1-2 percent.
Pharma stocks also caught in bear grip. Lupin was biggest loser, down 3.8 percent after the management in conference call said US business would see a double-digit decline in FY18 and EBITDA margin guidance reduced to 21-23 percent from 24-26 percent.
Sun Pharma, Cipla and Dr Reddy’s Labs were down 1.5-2 percent but Aurobindo Pharma gained 1.4 percent.
Reliance Industries hit an intraday record closing high of Rs 1,665. The stock ended at fresh record closing high of Rs 1,651.55, up 1.38 percent. TCS, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Auto were other gainers among Sensex 30 stocks, up 1-2 percent.
IOC, Colgate Palmolive and Titan Company gained up to 4.6 percent after better-than-expected earnings. Cummins, ICRA, Sequent Scientific and Capital First slipped up to 5 percent.
Among others, Phillips Carbon, Goa Carbon, Mirza International, Fortis, Edelweiss, Triveni Engineering and Dhampur Sugar rallied up to 8 percent whereas Jindal Steel & Power shed 10 percent.
On the global front, Asian indexes closed lower after the Dow closed above the 22,000 level and as the dollar staged a slight recovery. European markets were mixed, with the Britain’s FTSE up 0.5 percent at the time of writing this article.
