Sensex logs first fall in 4 days, tanks 383 pts on rupee woes

| | Mumbai
  • 0

Sensex logs first fall in 4 days, tanks 383 pts on rupee woes

Thursday, 18 October 2018 | PTI | Mumbai

The BSE benchmark Sensex snapped its three-day gains, plunging 383 points due to heavy selling mainly in financial and auto stocks as rising crude prices and rupee volatility spooked investors.

The flagship index swung nearly 880 points both ways on alternate bouts of buying and selling during the session.

The NSE Nifty too fell by 131.70 points to slip below 10,500-mark.

Intense selling pressure was witnessed in select counters led by auto, realty and oil&gas stocks.

Sentiments were also hurt by liquidity concerns that dragged down non-banking financial stocks.

Meanwhile in the forex market, the rupee after showing strength in early session at 73.37, slipped 13 paise to 73.61 against the US dollar (intra-day) too had its shadow on equities.

Overall sentiment was cautious as investors were on a wait-and-watch mode ahead of quarterly results from Reliance Industries, to be released later in the day, brokers said.

“Market slid below 10,500 mark as rise in oil price and volatility in the rupee influenced investors to book profit. Global market remain mixed ahead of the release of FOMC minutes later in the day to get cues about rate hike trajectory,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

After a gap up opening at 35,543.38 points, the Sensex advanced to hit a high of 35,605.43 points in early trade on the back of better-than-expected Q2 earnings posted by tech major Infosys on Tuesday.

However, emergence of selling by investors across-the-board, mostly of a profit-booking nature, gave up session’s gain to hit a low of 34,727.16 in late afternoon trade, before settling 382.90 points, or 1.09 per cent, down at 34,779.58.

The index had risen nearly 1,161 points in the past three sessions on the back of unabated buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and rebound in global equity markets.

The broader NSE Nifty too dived by 131.70 points, or 1.24 per cent, to close at 10,453.05. Intra-day, it reclaimed the 10,700-mark to scale a high of 10,710.15 and a low of 10,436.45.

“A strong rupee and buoyant global markets set the stage for the Indian markets to trade cheerfully in the morning. Nifty did open with gusto, though could not sustain and fell more than 250 points from the highs,” VK Sharma, Head PCG & Capital Markets Group, HDFC Securities, said.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,165.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors bought shares to the tune of Rs 1,059.44 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional data available on the BSE.

Shares of Reliance Industries after initial firmness, fell 1.27 per cent ahead of its September quarter results.

Sunday Edition

CAA PASSPORT TO FREEDOM

24 March 2024 | Kumar Chellappan | Agenda

CHENNAI EXPRESS IN GURUGRAM

24 March 2024 | Pawan Soni | Agenda

The Way of Bengal

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

The Pizza Philosopher

24 March 2024 | Shobori Ganguli | Agenda

Astroturf | Lord Shiva calls for all-inclusiveness

24 March 2024 | Bharat Bhushan Padmadeo | Agenda

Interconnected narrative l Forest conservation l Agriculture l Food security

24 March 2024 | BKP Sinha/ Arvind K jha | Agenda