Sensex closes flat; bank stocks plummet
Mumbai : A benchmark index of Indian equities markets Tuesday closed flat amidst domestic and global cues.
The markets were cautious a day after India’s wholesale price inflation figures showed an acceleration of 6.1 percent in August. The markets were also impacted by negative global cues as Asian markets ended in the red.
The 30-scrip sensitive index (Sensex) of the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 19,721.90 points, closed at 19,804.03 points in the day’s trade session, up 61.56 points or 0.31 percent from previous day’s close at 19,742.47 points.
The Sensex touched a high of 19,819.10 points and a low of 19,635.44 points during the trade so far.
The wider 50-scrip S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) made marginal gains in the day’s trade. It closed 9.65 points or 0.17 percent up at 5,850.20 points.
The lukewarm sentiment in the market was observed a day after the headline inflation, measured in terms of the Wholesale Price Index (WPI), accelerated to 6.1 percent in August as against 5.79 percent in July. The WPI was driven by more than 18 percent jump in food prices.
High inflation levels may have an adverse impact on the monetary policy review due on Friday.
The industry and markets which are reeling under a liquidity crunch due to high interest rates are expecting a cut in key lending rates by the new Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan.
However, his ability to maneuvre a cut in key lending rates might be limited due to the high inflation data.
In Tuesday’s trade, healthy buying was observed in information technology (IT), metals, automobile, technology, entertainment and media (TECk) and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sectors.
However, selling pressure was seen in banking, oil and gas, capital goods, healthcare and public sector undertakings (PSUs) stocks.
The S&P BSE IT index gained 157.29 points, metal index closed the day’s trade up by 81.30 points, automobile index was up 80.56 points, TECk index was 69.09 points and the FMCG index was higher by 52.12 poinst.
The bank index was 86.62 points lower, oil and gas index dropped by 50.54 points, capital goods index was down 41.99 points, healthcare index slipped 38.69 points and PSU index 37.76 points.
Only 18 of the 30 scrips on the sensitive index were gainers in the day’s trade. These included Wipro, up 5.41 percent at Rs.475.35; Dr Reddy’s Lab, up 3.69 percent at Rs.2,305.15; Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), up 2.38 percent at Rs.1,947.05; Jindal Steel, up 1.94 percent at Rs.247.30; and Sesa Goa, up 1.89 percent at Rs.180.55.
The main losers were: Sun Pharma, down 3.22 percent at Rs.544.35; ONGC, down 2.30 percent at Rs.280.30; NTPC, down 1.75 percent at Rs.140.40; Hero MotoCorp, down 1.21 percent at Rs.2,070; and Tata Steel, down 1.20 percent at Rs.288.30.
Among the Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.65 percent down, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended the day’s trade 0.31 percent lower. China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 2.03 percent.
In Europe, London’s FTSE 100 was trading 0.41 percent down, while Germany’s DAX Index was lower by 0.24 percent. The French CAC 40 Index was 0.34 percent down.
