Sensex slips 198 points, Nifty down 47 points on financial sector woes, global trade tussle; Vedanta, Tata Steel among top losers

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex furthered losses to the fourth session in a row on Thursday, dropping about 199 points as financial sector trouble and renewed trade war concerns weighed on sentiments. After opening on a negative note, the 30-share BSE Sensex swung between a high of 38,310.93 and a low of 37,957.56, before settling at 38,106.87, showing a decline of 198.54 points or 0.52 percent. Likewise, the 50-share NSE Nifty closed down by 46.80 points or 0.41 percent at 11,313.10. [caption id=“attachment_5263731” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] The Sensex was pulled down mainly by losses in metal and banking stocks. Globally, markets came under an immense pressure after the US decision to impose new tariffs on European goods, triggering worries for the global economy. Besides, a series of negative headlines in the Indian banking and financial sector have been playing in the minds of investors, pulling the benchmark indices down for the past couple of sessions. On the Sensex chart, Vedanta was the biggest loser with 4.66 percent decline. Other major laggards were were Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank, HUL and Bharti Airtel, losing up to 3.36 percent. On the other hand, Yes Bank surged about 33 percent on Thursday after five consecutive days of fall after the bank said its financials are strong, with the liquidity position well in excess of regulatory requirements. Others top gainers were Tata Motors, ITC, HCL Tech PowerGrid, and M&M, gaining up to 6.16 percent. Asian markets were down amid concerns over the US opening a new front in its trade war.