Sensex posts biggest fall in 1-1/2 years; SBI nosedives nearly 5.5%

Rajalakshmi S Updated - January 09, 2018 at 06:02 PM.

Global markets reeling under North Korea tensions

sensex

Domestic indices fell for a fifth session and ended their worst week in one-and-a-half years after State Bank of India sank following weak June-quarter results, further weakening sentiment in a market reeling under North Korea tensions.

Weakening global risk appetite has sparked a wide round of profit-taking after shares scaled record highs last week.

Besides, caution ahead of IIP data for June due later in the day too weighed on the domestic sentiment.

The benchmark BSE index closed down by 317.74 points or 1.01 per cent at 31,213.59, its lowest close in over a month.The broader NSE index ended lower by 109.45 points or 1.11 per cent at 9,710.80.

Both indexes ended nearly 3.5 per cent lower for the week, snapping a five-week winning streak, marking their worst week since mid-February 2016.

Barring consumer durables and healthcare, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the negative zone. Among them, metal index plunged 3.63 per cent, followed by auto 1.51 per cent, PSU 1.5 per cent and realty 1.32 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index was up 0.33 per cent and healthcare 0.22 per cent.

Top five Sensex losers were State Bank of India (-5.36%), M&M (-3.1%), Reliance (+2.37%), L&T (+2.3%) and NTPC (+2.2%), while the major gainers were Dr Reddy's (+3.2%), Lupin (+0.71%), Wipro (+0.66%), Axis Bank (+0.63%) and Infosys (+0.53%).

Asian equity markets slid further and Wall Street closed sharply lower after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang against attacking Guam or US allies.

“The mood got aggravated because global markets opened negatively ... it's more of a fear factor ...,” said Anita Gandhi, whole-time director, Arihant Capital Markets, adding that markets were overripe in terms of valuation.

Overnight, Wall Street closed sharply lower after US President Donald Trump issued a new round of fiery rhetoric, warning Pyongyang against attacking Guam or US allies after it disclosed plans to fire missiles over Japan to land near the US Pacific territory.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan skidded 1.2 per cent in its third session of declines, heading for a 2.1 per cent drop for the week. Australian shares were down 1.2 per cent, set for a weekly loss of 0.5 per cent. Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.

Published on August 11, 2017 10:40