Sensex slides for 3rd day, trade deficit sparks worries

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.)