Sensex cracks over 300 points, Nifty below 10,000-mark amid weak global cues
MUMBAI: Indian shares fell around 1% on Friday, while the rupee hit its weakest point since early April amid concerns that the government’s plan for a stimulus to halt an economic slowdown may have a negative impact on the fiscal deficit. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said earlier that the government was looking for ways to lift economic growth, which slipped to a three-year low of 5.7 percent in the quarter to end-June.
Global investor sentiment was subdued after North Korea said it might test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean and escalated a war of words with US President Donald Trump. “This remains a potential threat to the overall markets,” said Teena Virmani, vice-president, Kotak Securities. “Valuations are still a concern. There will be some kind of profit-booking at these levels wherein a large amount of froth had been built up in the last 1-1/2 months,” said Virmani. Here are the latest updates from the market:
The BSE Sensex dropped over 300 points in mid-session trade Friday due to across the board sell-off led by realty, bank, financials and capital goods stocks after renewed threat of North Korea conducting another hydrogen bomb test. The broader Nifty fell below 10,000-level to trade at 9,992.15.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said today he believes the North could consider a nuclear test on an “unprecedented scale” in the Pacific Ocean, South Korea`s Yonhap news agency reported.The rupee fell to four-month low amid FII outflows on expectation of rate hike by the US Federal Reserve loomed investors sentiment
The Sensex resumed lower 32,339.50 and hovered in a range of 32,342.81 and 32,023.37 before quoting at 32,057.80, down by 316.27 points, or 0.98 percent. The broader Nifty fell by 124.05 points, or 1.23 percent to 9,997.85. Major losers were, ICICI Bank 2.11 per cent, Tata Steel 2.05 percent, Infosys 2.01 percent, HeroMotoco 1.90 percent, Coal India 1.81 percent and Reliance Industries 1.59 percent.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,204.95 crore yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges. While, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,416.55 crore, as per provisional data. In Asia, Tokyo stocks snapped a four-day winning streak today as investors cashed in on recent gains amid resurging worries over North Korea.
The Nikkei 225 index lost 0.25 percent, or 51.03 points, to close at 20,296.45, while the broader Topix index also ended down 0.25 percent, or 4.13 points, at 1,664.61.The US stocks declined yesterday as profit booking emerged after recent winning streak.
