Mumbai, Weak global markets, coupled with the outflow of foreign funds, suppressed the key Indian equity indices on Tuesday with the benchmark 30-scrip Sensex on the BSE losing over 200 points.
Globally, key markets were weighed down by signs of a resurgent trade war after reports said that US President Donald Trump might consider imposing tariffs on additional $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
According to analysts, the depreciation of the Indian rupee also eroded investor sentiment.
Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 10,710.45 points, down 89.40 points or 0.83 per cent from the previous close of 10,799.85 points.
Similarly, the BSE Sensex, which had opened at its intra-day high level of 35,552.47 points closed at 35,286.74 points — down 261.52 points or 0.74 per cent — from its previous session’s close of 35,548.26 points. The Sensex touched an intra-day low of 35,249.06 points.
In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap declined by 0.98 per cent, while the S&P BSE small-cap ended 1.29 per cent lower from its previous close. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,951 declines against 676 advances.
“The weakness came on the back of weak global cues as the trade spat between the US and China intensified,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
He further said: “Major Asian markets have closed on a negative note. European indices like FTSE 100, CAC 40 and DAX are trading in the red.”
According to BNP Paribas Mutual Fund’s Senior Fund Manager for Equities, Abhijeet Dey, persistent selling of Indian equities by foreign institutional investors also dampened investor sentiment.
Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 1,324.92 crore while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 653.68 crore.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee weakened by 40 paise against the US dollar to 68.39, from its previous close of 67.99 per greenback.
Sector-wise, all the indices ended the day’s trade on the downside with the S&P BSE auto index losing the most, by 264.15 points, followed by the metal index which fell by 222.71 and the banking index ending 190.83 points lower.
Stock-wise, the gainers on the Sensex were ITC, up 0.76 per cent at Rs 266.15; ONGC, up 0.30 per cent at Rs 164.85; HDFC Bank, up 0.20 per cent at Rs 2,025.40; and HDFC, up 0.11 per cent at Rs 1,826.70 per share.
The top losers were Vedanta, down 3.55 per cent at Rs 224.05; Mahindra and Mahindra, down 2.23 per cent at Rs 892.40; Adani Ports, down 2 per cent at Rs 362.65, Reliance Industries, down 1.91 per cent at Rs 995.65; and IndusInd Bank, down 1.90 per cent at Rs 1,930.25 per share.
