Sensex slumps 219 points as trade concerns mount, Nifty cracks below the 10,800 mark

Mumbai: Benchmarks buckled under selling pressure today, largely in tandem with a global market sell-off triggered by deteriorating trade relations between the US and China.

The BSE Sensex tumbled over 219 points to close at 35,470.35, while the broader Nifty fell 59.40 points to 10,762.45.

Asian markets were hammered after reports said the US is mulling imposing investment curbs on Chinese companies, ratcheting up tensions with Beijing amid an ongoing trade conflict. Back home, profit-booking and persistent foreign capital outflows added to the sombre mood, brokers said. After a positive start, the 30-share Sensex advanced to a high of 35,806.97, but soon turned negative and hit a low of 35,430.11. It finally ended at 35,470.35 – down by 219.25 points or 0.61 percent. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty cracked below the 10,800-mark to hit a low of 10,753.05 intra-day, before closing at 10,762.45 with a loss of 59.40 points, or 0.55 percent. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 1,343.44 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,105.76 crore on Friday, as per provisional data. Meanwhile, investments through participatory notes into Indian capital markets plunged to over 9-year low of more than Rs 93,000 crore at May-end amid stringent norms put in place by Sebi to check the misuse of these instruments. [caption id=“attachment_4357795” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “Global trade war concerns and F&O expiry led volatility impacted the market sentiment. Drop in oil prices on account of increase in production will provide some relief to Indian markets in the near term. “However, any escalation in trade tensions and outflow of foreign funds is likely to add pressure on INR and fiscal path,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. Stocks of state-run oil marketing companies such as HPCL, BPCL and IOC lost up to 3.91 percent, even as OPEC agreed to ramp up output at its meeting in Vienna, which is likely to cool crude oil prices. Tata Motors was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, sinking 5.94 per cent, after the company-owned Jaguar Land Rover unveiled a mammoth Rs 1.2 lakh crore investment plan for the next three years. Other laggards included ICICI Bank (3.79 per cent), Coal India (2.28 percent), L&T (2.05 percent), Axis Bank (1.81 percent), SBI (1.81 percent), Hero MotoCorp (1.77 percent), ONGC (1.72 percent), PowerGrid (1.44 percent) and Adani Ports (1.38 percent). IT major Infosys bucked the trend, spurting 2.07 percent in a weak market. Vedanta, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank and TCS also finished with gains. Sector-wise, the BSE PSU index bled the most, down 1.73 per cent, followed by oil and gas (1.55 percent), auto (1.51 percent), infrastructure (1.32 percent), capital goods (1.31 percent), realty (1.24 percent), power (1.02 percent), metal (0.98 percent) and bankex (0.94 percent). IT and teck, however, ended in the positive zone, rising by up to 0.85 percent. In keeping with the overall trend, the BSE small-cap and mid-cap indices declined by 0.89 percent and 0.80 percent, respectively. Globally, Japan’s Nikkei ended lower by 0.79 percent, Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 1.05 per cent and Singapore lost 0.81 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng shed 1.29 percent. In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX fell 1.09 percent and Paris CAC 40 was down 0.82 percent in their late morning deals. London’s FTSE too declined 1.22 percent.