Financial and auto stocks pull markets down, Sensex plunges 267 points
Shares of Tata Motors fell by 8% on the BSE index after its first quarter results failed to meet expectations.
Market sentiment remained low on Thursday for the fourth straight session. The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex plunged 267 points to end at 31,531, and the National Stock Exchange Nifty closed 88 points lower at 9,820.
Financial and auto stocks led Thursday’s losses. Global sentiment also remained weak as investors were cautious following tensions between the United States and North Korea. “An element of profit-booking is also coming in, which is causing nervousness, but nothing to be perturbed about,” promoter Deven Choksey told Mint.
On the Sensex, shares of Power Finance Corp Limited (-6%) and Rural Electrification Corp Limited (-7%) pulled the financial sub-index down. The auto index was dragged down by Tata Motors, whose stocks fell by 8% to its lowest in more than a year after its first quarter results failed to meet expectations.
Overall, Tata Motors (-8.15%), Dr Reddy’s (-4.67), and Sun Pharma (-2.69%) were the biggest losers on the Sensex. IT giants Infosys (+1.35%), Wipro (+0.44%) and Tata Consultancy Services (+0.35%) were among the top gainers.
Nifty’s auto index, too, slumped by 2.2% because of the falling shares of Tata Motors, Eicher Motors and Motherson Sumi Systems. The NSE’s banking index dropped by 0.5%, and the public sector undertaking bank index fell by 1.9%.
Aurobindo Pharma’s first quarter performance helped Nifty’s pharma index make gains after losing for six straight sessions. The firm’s shares rose 5.9%. All of NSE’s sectoral indices traded lower, besides IT. Nearly 90 stocks, including Adlabs Entertainment, Lupin and Sun Pharma, hit fresh 52-week lows, according to The Economic Times.
The Indian rupee was trading at 63.97 against the US dollar at 3.10 pm. It was down 0.20% from its Wednesday’s close of 63.84.
Other Asian markets also traded lower. Investors were cautious as the US inflation data will be announced on Friday, and it is likely to affect the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. South Korea’s won fell by 0.57%, the Taiwanese dollar was down 0.18%, and the Malaysian ringgit dropped by 0.15%.