Sensex logs this year's biggest single-day fall as ITC slumps 13%, global cues turn negative

Mumbai: Retreating from its record high hit in the previous session, the BSE Sensex on Tuesday sank about 364 points to post its biggest single-day plunge in eight months, dragged by FMCG giant ITC whose shares fell nearly 13 percent due to increased levies on cigarettes. The NSE Nifty also cracked about 89 points to slip below the psychological 9,900-mark. Cigarette major ITC emerged as the worst performer after its stock dived 12.63 percent to Rs 284.60 following the GST Council’s decision to hike cess on cigarettes by 48.50 paise to 79.20 paise per stick. Other cigarette stocks were Godfrey Phillips and VST Industries also tanked by up to 7.83 percent. The market sentiment was also impacted by mixed global cues as setbacks for a healthcare overhaul in the US raised doubts over prospects for a range of reforms backed by President Donald Trump. “GST cess on cigarettes dented Nifty’s surge, while global markets and the uncertainties prevailing around the earnings season kept the domestic investors cautious today. However, strength in rupee and recovery in the PSU bank stocks amidst NPA resolution hopes, shall keep 10k aspirations alive,” Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services Ltd, said. The 30-share Sensex, after opening lower at 31,775.54, reached an intra-day high of 31,911.61. The index, however, slipped as the day progressed and touched a low of 31,626.44 during the day. It finally settled at 31,710.99, down 363.79 points, or 1.13 percent, from Monday’s close. [caption id=“attachment_3827637” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] This is the Sensex’s biggest single day fall since 21 November when it had lost 385.10 points. The index had closed at record high of 32,074.78 points after scaling all-time intra-day high of 32,131.92 points in Monday’s trade. The Nifty opened lower today at 9,832.70. After touching an intra-day high of 9,885.35, the index headed south to touch a low of 9,792.05, before finally settling at 9,827.15, down by 88.80 points, or 0.90 percent. Besides cigarette makers, other laggards were Reliance Industries, SBI, Power Grid, HDFC Ltd, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Airtel, Kotak Bank and M&M, falling up to 2.03 percent. Among the gainers, Asian Paint led the Sensex pack by climbing 1.82 percent, followed by Sun Pharma 1.18 percent, Axis Bank 1.18 percent, ONGC 1.06 percent, Hero MotoCorp 0.83 percent, Dr Reddy’s 0.83 percent and Tata Steel 0.71 percent. Share of cement maker ACC continued its upward journey and gathered another 0.49 percent to Rs 1,759.80 after the company on Monday reported a 32.57 percent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 326.23 crore for the second quarter ended June 30. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 328.61 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 447.14 crore on Monday, as per provisional data. Sectorally, the BSE FMCG index suffered the most by dropping 6.12 percent followed by realty 1.10 percent, oil & gas 0.79 percent, consumer durables 0.66 percent, power 0.60 percent and PSU 0.33 percent. However, IT index rose 0.24 percent, auto 0.20 percent, healthcare 0.18 percent and teck 0.17 percent. In tandem with overall trends, the broader markets too succumbed to profit-booking by investors at record levels, pulling down the mid-cap index by 0.60 percent and small-cap index by 0.58 percent. Overseas, European stocks were trading lower as oil and financial stocks declined. Key indices like France and Germany dropped by 0.24 percent to 0.55 percent while UK’s FTSE was quoted higher by 0.06 percent. In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.59 percent, while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.35 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng up 0.21 percent.