Hindalco, JSPL plunge as SC's coal block order hits Sensex, Nifty

Mumbai: The Sensex and the Nifty today hit new lifetime highs but fag-end selling due to Supreme Court’s ruling on coal allocations hit investor sentiment with the NSE index ending in the red while the BSE barometer closed with a marginal 17-point gain at a new peak on closing basis.

The 30-share Sensex, which had rallied by over 105 points in the past two sessions, climbed to hit an intra-day record high of 26,630.74, surpassing its earlier record of 26,530.67 reached on 19 August.

However, emergence of across-the-board selling towards the close, trimmed most of day’s gains and it closed 17.47 points, or 0.07 per cent, higher at 26,437.02 – crossing its previous closing record of 26,420.67 recorded on 19 August.

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The NSE Nifty after opening a strong footing, climbed to hit an all-time high of 7,968.25, surpassing earlier record high of 7,929.05 reached on August 22. Late selling wiped off Nifty’s initial gains completely and it ended 6.90 points, or 0.09 per cent, down at 7,906.30.

Prominent losers in the Sensex include Hindalco that plunged 9.56 per cent, Sesa Sterlite 3.89 per cent, Tata Steel 4.79 per cent, Tata Power 3.42 per cent, ICICI Bank 1.52 per cent, GAIL 1.18 per cent, NTPC 0.28 per cent, RIL 0.17 per cent, SBI 0.57 per cent and Tata Motors 0.63 per cent.

Sectorwise, BSE Metal index suffered the most by losing 4.34 per cent, followed by Realty 2.01 per cent and Power Index 1.24 per cent.

“Market sentiment was strong till mid-session, however, post the Supreme Court’s decision, stating coal allocation since 1993 till 2010 as illegal, triggered strong selling in select stocks like Hindalco and JSPL. Other sectors including power and some mid caps also followed suit,” said Nidhi
Saraswat, Senior Research Analyst, Bonanza Portfolio.

Stocks of Maruti Suzuki ended 1.71 per cent after reports said Credit Suisse raised its target price.
Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 302.06 crore on last Friday as per provisional data from the stock exchanges.

Asian markets mostly rose Monday, while the dollar hit multi-month highs against the yen and euro after the US Federal Reserve chief seemed to indicate a shift towards an interest rate rise sooner than expected.

PTI