Stock investors got increasingly
worried about the possibility of fiscal slippage as the Sensex
plunged 181 points due to concerns over trade deficit that
ballooned to an almost 3-year high.
Lacklustre earnings by some blue-chip companies left
investors disheartened, too.
"Markets are pricing in the potential for a fiscal
deficit target being pushed higher, with recent data showing
pressures from both weak exports as well as high oil prices,"
said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial
Services Ltd.
The opening for the 30-share Sensex was positive, but
positivity ended there as the index started rolling down
afterwards. It settled at an over three-week low of 32,760.44,
down 181.43 points, or 0.55 per cent.
The loss for the Sensex read 372.69 points over the
previous two sessions.
At the close, the NSE Nifty was lower by 68.55 points, or
0.67 per cent, at 10,118.05. Intra-day, it moved between
10,175.45 and 10,094.
Risk-taking took a hit as the country's exports entered
negative territory after over an year, contracting 1.12 per
cent in October and imports surged. This showed up in trade
deficit, which swelled to almost a 3-year high of USD 14
billion last month.
A subdued trend in Asia and a lower opening in Europe,
tracking a fall in oil prices and doubts over US tax reforms,
kept spirits low.
Today's decline in the benchmarks left investors poorer
by Rs 1.55 lakh crore at Rs 141.73 lakh crore.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) picked up shares worth
a net Rs 2,576.98 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.
Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth
a net Rs 1.30 crore.
From the Sensex lot, Sun Pharma turned red the most --
sinking 4.01 per cent, after the pharma major yesterday
reported a big drop in consolidated net profit. Other losers
included ONGC, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Lupin and ITC.
Much of the damage came from the metal index, which fell
3.04 per cent. Telecom, realty, power and consumer durables
were the other losers in the sectoral space.
Selling pressure also gathered momentum in broader
markets, with the BSE small-cap index falling 1.52 per cent
and mid-cap 1.01 per cent.
Stocks of Anil Ambani's group such as Reliance
Communications, Reliance capital, Reliance Infrastructure and
Reliance Power faced heavy selling and lost up to 12 per
cent.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
05:18 PM IST