Sensex, Nifty succumb to late sell-off, post second weekly loss; metal stocks fall

Mumbai: Equities ended the day with modest losses as early gains were erased by a bout of fag-end selling, led by metal stocks which came under heavy selling pressure after the US imposed tariffs on some steel and aluminium imports, fanning fears of a global trade tussle. The BSE Sensex finished 43 points lower at 33,307.14, while the broader NSE Nifty shed 16 points to 10,226.85. The BSE metal index was the biggest loser in Friday’s session after US President Donald Trump signed two proclamations that imposed tariffs on some steel and aluminium imports, sparking fears of retaliatory moves by other countries. The 30-share Sensex, which remained in the positive zone for the major part of the session, hit a high of 33,519.49 but succumbed to a late sell-off to end at 33,307.14, down 44.43 points, or 0.13 percent. The broad-based NSE Nifty, after shuttling between 10,296.70 and 10,211.90, finally ended 15.80 points, or 0.15 percent down at 10,226.85. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 364.80 crore on net basis while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 675.26 crore yesterday, provisional data showed. [caption id=“attachment_4383717” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters.[/caption] This was the second straight week of losses for the benchmarks. The BSE Sensex lost 739.80 points or 2.17 percent, while the Nifty shed 231.50 points, or 2.21 percent during the period. “Market started off in a positive territory but absence of major triggers… influenced investors to sell on rally. Global trade fears continue to pull the domestic metal index lower while weakening trend on rupee supported IT companies. “Market participants are cautiously awaiting CPI and IIP data. Inflation is expected to come down to 4.74 percent in February which will ease bond yields in the near term,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. In the metals pack, SAIL tumbled 6.40 percent, Jindal Steel 5.24 percent, Tata Steel 4.66 percent, Nalco 2.19 percent, NMDC 1.85 percent, Vedanta 1.59 percent and Hindalco 1.26 percent. Banking stocks continued their weak run. Axis Bank declined 2.85 percent, Bank of Baroda 2.12 percent, ICICI Bank 1.43 percent, Yes Bank 1.41 percent, SBI 1.40 percent and PNB 1.24 percent. Other laggards included Adani Ports, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors, NTPC, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy’s, Coal India, ONGC, Power Grid and Hero MotoCorp, falling up to 2.21 percent. Bucking the trend, IT stocks such as TCS, Infosys and Wipro rose up to 1.10 percent. Sector-wise, metal lost 1.94 percent, followed by bankex 0.77 percent, PSU 0.68 percent, infrastructure 0.65 percent, healthcare 0.61 percent, power 0.59 percent, oil & gas 0.36 percent, realty 0.19 percent and auto 0.11 percent. The teck index gained 0.55 percent, IT 0.55 percent and capital goods 0.16 percent. The broader markets too came under pressure after investors logged gains at higher levels, pulling down the mid-cap index by 0.35 percent and small-cap by 0.30 percent. Asian markets ended on a firm note after moderate gains on Wall Street overnight. Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.47 percent, Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.57 percent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng spurted 1.11 percent. European shares, however, were in the red in their early deals, including Frankfurt and Paris, falling up to 0.49 percent. London’s FTSE too shed 0.08 percent.