Sensex plunges over 400 points, Nifty down 120 points ahead of GDP data; HUL, Sun Pharma among top losers

Equity markets witnessed profit booking and extended morning losses ahead of the country’s second-quarter GDP data which is likely to fall below 5 percent.

#CNBCTV18Market | Major indices near low point of the day; Midcap index gives up 150 points from the day's high pic.twitter.com/0OW75M292C

— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18Live) November 29, 2019

In the afternoon trade, Sensex fell by over 400 points while the broader Nifty was down over 120 points at 2.15 pm. Investors also tracked weak global cues after the passage of the Hong Kong pro-democracy bill in Washington that could derail trade talks between the United States and China. Retreating from its lifetime peak scaled in the previous session, the 30-share index was trading 431.33 points, or 1.05 percent lower at 40,698.84 in the afternoon session. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty was quoting 129.40 points or 1.06 percent down at 12,021.75. Equity benchmark indices declined from their record high in the early morning trade on Friday. [caption id=“attachment_4402797” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representative image. Reuters[/caption] Bharti Airtel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising up to 1.53 percent, followed by NTPC, up 0.30 percent. On the other hand, Hindustan Unilever,  SBI, Mahindra & Mahindra, RIL, Tata Motors and Sun Pharma were trading in the red. All sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal down by 1.6 percent, auto by 1.2 percent, FMCG by 1 percent and PSU bank by 0.9 percent. Among stocks, Hindalco lost by 3.3 percent, Tata Steel by 2.2 percent, Vedanta by 1.9 percent and Maruti Suzuki by 1.5 percent. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries slipped by 1.5 percent to Rs 1,556.25 per share. On Thursday, the Sensex rose to an all-time high (intra-day) of 41,163.79 before setting up by 109.56 points or 0.27 percent at 41,130.17 — its record closing high. The Nifty too closed at a fresh life-time high of 12,151.15, up by 50.45 points or 0.42 percent over the previous close. Foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,008.89 crore in the capital market in the previous session, while domestic institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 155.47 crore, data available with stock exchange showed. Investors booked profits at higher levels ahead of Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) growth numbers, scheduled to be released later in the day, traders said. According to experts, GDP growth for Q2 is expected to be between 4.2 percent and 4.7 percent, slower than the 5 percent in Q1. Meanwhile, Asian markets slipped on Friday leaving global shares just short of an all-time peak as investors turned cautious, fearing a new US law backing Hong Kong protesters could torpedo efforts to end the US-China trade war. MSCI All Country world index, which tracks shares in 49 countries, were up 0.08 percent at 548.88, only 0.3 percent away from all-time peak hit in January last year before the start of US-China trade war. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9 percent. Hong Kong led the losses, dropping 2 percent. South Korean shares lost 1.2 percent and Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.1 percent. China’s blue-chips gave up 0.9 percent a day before the country reports manufacturing activity, which analysts polled by Reuters expect to have shrunk for seventh straight month in November. Asian markets were sold off due to uncertainty over how US markets will perceive the latest clash between Washington and Beijing over Hong Kong. Traders on Wall Street will commence a half-day session on Friday following Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday. US S&P 500 mini futures were down 0.26 percent. On the currency front, rupee opened on a weak note and fell 11 paise to 71.73 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, as investors traded the cautious path ahead of the release of GDP data. Forex traders said rupee is trading in a narrow range as investors are also awaiting clarity on the US-China trade front. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 71.63 then fell to 71.73 against the US dollar, showing a decline of 11 paise over its previous closing. Brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.40 percent to $63.02 per barrel. — With inputs from agencies