Stocks today cut a sorry figure for
the sixth straight day on growing risk aversion as benchmarks
found it a tough ask to get over the pessimism set off by
foreign institutional selling and the Korean impasse.
Investors rushed back to the refuge of safe havens, with
the Sensex ending at a fresh one-month low of 31,599.76 --
down 26.87 points, or 0.08 per cent.
The barometer had lost 797.13 points for the past five
sessions on the trot due to unimpressive global cues and
relentless foreign capital outflows.
The 50-share NSE Nifty settled a shade lower by 1.10
points, or 0.01 per cent, at 9,871.50. During the session, it
moved between 9,891.35 and 9,813. The closing was also its
lowest in four weeks.
"Market recovered from intra-day losses and settled flat
as investors found some long-term opportunities in beaten-down
stocks. However, tepid movement in the global market, losing
sheen on currency and volatility ahead of derivative expiry
casts interim cloud over the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of
Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.
Foreign portfolio investors stayed away from Indian
stocks as they net sold shares worth Rs 1,249.45 crore. But
domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net bought equities
worth Rs 1,009.98 crore yesterday, according to provisional
data from the exchanges.
The Korean tension showed no signs of easing as North
Korea's foreign minister said US President Donald
Trump had declared war on the country and it reserves the
right to take countermeasures, including shooting down US
bombers even if they are not in its airspace.
Concerns over stretched valuations of several blue-chip
as well as mid-cap stocks accelerated selling, traders said.
But this was offset by bargain hunting, which kept losses to a
minimum.
The rupee sliding to a fresh 6-month low of 65.45 against
the dollar and crude prices heating up globally after Turkish
threats to block Kurdish oil exports hit investor sentiment.
Brent oil hit a two-year high of USD 59.33 per barrel in
the international market.
Selling by retail investors in the secondary market to
raise funds to invest in the primary market by subscribing
IPOs of several companies, also fuelled downward trend.
Market participants were also disappointed after the
Asian Development Bank downgraded India's growth projection to
7 per cent for the current fiscal while lowering its forecast
for the next financial year as well.
But not all seems to have been gloomy as Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has formed an Economic Advisory Council (EAC) as
part of the government's efforts to put life back into the
economy, which of late has slowed.
The heavy losers were Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints,
Dr Reddy's, TCS and M&M, down by up to 2.31 per cent.
State-owned ONGC was a big hitter climbing 4.32 per cent
to Rs 171.55 after the company said it will acquire the
government's 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL through a bulk or
block deal some time in November or December at the prevailing
market price.
Sector-wise, the BSE FMCG index declined the most, losing
0.37 per cent, followed by technology.
Broader markets left the benchmarks behind, with the
small-cap index rising 1.08 per cent and mid-cap 0.44 per
cent.
(This article has not been edited by Zeebiz editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)
04:59 PM IST