Record low rupee, global cues subdue equity indices

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Mumbai,   The Indian rupee slumping to its record low, along with broadly negative global cues, depressed the Indian equity market on Monday.

According to market observers, outflow of foreign funds also pulled both the key indices — S&P BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty50 — lower during the day.

Index-wise, the wider Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange closed at 11,355.75 points, lower by 73.75 points or 0.65 per cent from its previous close.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensex on the BSE, closed at 37,644.90 — lower by 224.33 points or 0.59 per cent — from its previous close of 37,869.23 points.

It touched an intra-day high of 37,799.54 points, and a low of 37,559.26 points.

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap fell by 0.70 per cent and the S&P BSE small-cap declined by 0.78 per cent. The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,738 declines and 954 advances.

“Flare-up of tensions between US and Turkey hit global financial markets by surprise and the ripple effect has seen in domestic market too,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Weak global cues and depreciating rupee led investors to book profits, Nair said.

The rupee on Monday closed at an all time low of 69.94 per dollar, weakening by Rs 1.11 from its previous close of 68.83 per dollar.

Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrip worth Rs 971.86 crore, while the domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 216.29 crore.

Sectorally, the S&P BSE IT index rose 182.27 points, the healthcare index was up 78.17 points and teck (technology, media and entertainment) index ended higher by 57.66 points.

In contrast, the S&P BSE banking index declined by 379.91 points, followed by the oil and gas index, which was down 290.87 points and the metal index which ended lower by 101.99 points.

The major gainers on the S&P BSE Sensex were Infosys, up 1.75 per cent at Rs 1,409.45; Sun Pharma, up 1.65 per cent at Rs 562.75; Wipro, up 1.31 per cent at Rs 282.70; Mahindra and Mahindra, up 0.96 per cent at Rs 954.05; and Coal India up 0.89 per cent from Rs 278.45 per share.

The major losers were Vedanta, down 3.40 per cent at Rs 216.05; State Bank of India, down 3.17 per cent at Rs 294.80; Yes Bank, down 3.11 per cent at Rs 371.10; Tata Motors(DVR), down 2.64 per cent at Rs 136.35; and ONGC, down 1.83 per cent at Rs 166.15 per share.