Mumbai: Indian equities extended their fall for yet another session on Monday, with the BSE Sensex falling over 150 points and the NSE Nifty slipping below the 10,900 mark, as selling pressure continued in the market despite a rebound in global stocks.
Brokers said auto sector stocks were the centre of nervous selling, triggered by dismal quarterly earnings posted by leading auto makers. The 30-share barometer after shuttling between 36,588.41 and 36,300.48 points, finally ended at 36,395.03, down 151.45 points, or 0.41 per cent.
The gauge had lost nearly 429 points in the previous two sessions. The 50-scrip NSE Nifty finished 49.80 points, or 0.50 per cent, down at 10,888.80, after touching a low of 10,857.10 and a high of 10,930.90 during the session. “Selling pressure continued in the market despite a rebound in global market as investors turned risk averse due to upcoming election,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
Quarterly results have not surprised investors while scope of downgrade in earnings further dampened the sentiment, he said adding that “global trade deal and risk of slowdown in growth continue to give caution while investors remain focused on tomorrow’s CPI inflation and IIP data to get some direction.”
Auto segment stocks continued to trade in the red with M&M emerging as the biggest loser in the Sensex pack by plunging nearly 5 per cent after it reported 11.44 per cent decline in standalone profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 1,076.81 crore on Friday for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018.
Meanwhile, domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales declined for the third month in a row in January, dropping 1.87 per cent, as manufacturers continued to reduce inventory at dealers following a tepid festive season sales, according to SIAM.
Other losers include ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance, SBI, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, L&T, Vedanta, Yes Bank and Axis Bank, falling up to 2.54 per cent. Shares of Dr Reddy’s Lab faced the selling pressure, plunging about 6 per cent, after the drugmaker’s Hyderabad-based plant was inspected by the US Food and Drug Administration on Friday. However, Tata Steel emerged as the top gainer in the Sensex kitty, climbing 2.31 per cent the company on Friday reported a 54.33 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 1,753.07 crore during the quarter ended on December 31, 2019, helped by higher income. (PTI)
