Mumbai, Dec 29: Benchmark Sensex declined by nearly 346 points while Nifty closed below 26,000 on Monday due to selling in utilities, IT and blue-chip oil & gas shares, foreign fund outflows and thin year-end trading.
Extending the downtrend to the fourth day running, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 345.91 points or 0.41 per cent to settle at 84,695.54. During the day, it dropped 403.59 points or 0.47 per cent to 84,637.86.
Registering its third day of decline, the 50-share NSE Nifty edged lower by 100.20 points or 0.38 per cent to 25,942.10.
Among 30 Sensex firms, Adani Ports was the biggest loser, dropping by 2.22 per cent. HCL Tech fell by 1.86 per cent, Power Grid by 1.85 per cent, Trent by 1.36 per cent, Bharat Electronics by 1.26 per cent and Bharti Airtel by 1.14 per cent.
Reliance Industries was a major drag on key indices, closing 0.88 per cent lower. According to sources, the government is seeking over USD 30 billion from Reliance Industries and BP as compensation, alleging the partners built larger-than-required facilities at the KG-D6 fields and subsequently failed to meet natural gas output targets.
Tata Steel was the biggest gainer among Sensex shares, rising by 1.83 per cent. Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, and Eternal also advanced.
“The market appears short on catalysts for further upside, with investors largely in holiday mode, signalling a potential consolidation phase in the near term,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Among sectoral indices, utilities tanked the most by 0.91 per cent, followed by power (0.86 per cent), IT (0.80 per cent), BSE Focused IT (0.79 per cent), realty (0.76 per cent) and capital goods (0.71 per cent).
BSE telecommunication, PSU bank, oil & gas and FMCG ended higher.
Shares in Europe and Asia were mostly lower in thin holiday trading as China staged military exercises near the island of Taiwan.
The prices of gold and silver fell back after recent gains, while oil prices jumped more than USD 1. US futures were little changed.
Shares in Taiwan were higher even after China’s military said it was conducting the drills around the self-governed island that Beijing claims as its territory.
In early European trading, Germany’s DAX slipped 0.2 per cent to 24,296.81, while the CAC 40 in Paris was nearly unchanged at 8,100.83. Britain’s FTSE 100 likewise barely budged, at 9,874.80.
The future for the S&P 500 fell 0.2 per cent while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat.
Taiwan’s benchmark Taiex gained 0.9 per cent, but the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gave up early gains, falling 0.7 per cent to 25,635.23. The Shanghai Composite index was virtually unchanged at 3,965.28.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.4 per cent to 50,526.92.
In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 2.2 per cent to 4,220.56, less than 2 points off its all-time record reached in early November. A 6.8 per cent jump for SK Hynix due to a regulatory change that lifted an investment warning for its stock helped boost the benchmark. Samsung Electronics advanced 2.1 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 gave up 0.4 per cent to 8,725.70.
The price of gold fell 1.3 per cent to USD 4,494 per troy ounce, while silver slipped 2.3 per cent to USD 75.40.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 317.56 crore on Friday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 1,772.56 crore, according to exchange data.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped 1.70 per cent to USD 61.67 per barrel.
On Friday, the Sensex dropped 367.25 points or 0.43 per cent to settle at 85,041.45. The Nifty declined by 99.80 points or 0.38 per cent to 26,042.30. (PTI)
