Markets settle lower, Sensex falls 230 pts amid selling in banking & utility stocks

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Friday, dragged by selling in banking, utility and financial stocks as investors turned cautious ahead of the release of industrial production data.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and a depreciating rupee amid geopolitical tensions also hit investors’ sentiment, traders said.

However, intense buying in metal stocks amid reports that China will pump more capital in fresh fiscal stimulus to boost its economy restricted the losses, they added.

In a volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 230.05 points or 0.28 per cent to close at 81,381.36. During the day, it declined 307.26 points or 0.37 per cent to a low of 81,304.15.

A total of 2,143 stocks advanced, while 1,751 declined and 117 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The NSE Nifty slipped 34.20 points or 0.14 per cent to 24,964.25. It hit an intraday low of 24,920.05.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki India, Power Grid, Axis Bank and Adani Ports & Special Economic Zones were among the laggards.

On the other hand, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Hindustan Unilever, Infosys and Titan were among the gainers.

Bandhan Bank shares surged over 12 per cent after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of Partha Pratim Sengupta as its MD and CEO for three years.

On the contrary, the scrip of Tata Consultancy Services fell 2 per cent after the country’s largest IT firm’s September quarter earnings failed to cheer investors.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap and smallcap gauge rose 0.44 per cent each.

Sector-wise, Realty slipped 0.74 per cent, Utilities (0.68 per cent), Bank (0.61 per cent), Auto (0.45 per cent), Financial Services (0.42 per cent) and Power (0.38 per cent).

On the other hand, Metal increased 1.25 per cent, healthcare (0.85 per cent), Oil & Gas (0.64 per cent), IT (0.59 per cent), Consumer Durables (0.50 per cent) and Energy (0.49 per cent).

Despite volatility in equity benchmark Sensex, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rose by Rs 27,796.69 crore to Rs 4,62,27,901.66 ($5.50 trillion).

Global oil benchmark Brent Crude fell 0.77 per cent to $78.79 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 4,926.61 crore on Thursday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,878.33 crore, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose 144.31 points to settle at 81,611.41, while the NSE Nifty climbed 16.50 points to close at 24,998.45.