Sensex shrugs off GDP rebound, sinks 316 points

MUMBAI: Falling for the fourth straight session, benchmark Sensex dived 316 points today to close below the 33,000-mark as positive GDP numbers for the second quarter failed to offset growing fiscal deficit concerns.

The 30-share benchmark, after scaling a high of 33,300.81 in early deals, slipped into the negative zone to touch 32,797.78, before settling at 32,832.94, down 316.41 points, or 0.95 per cent.

This was its weakest closing since November 15, when it had finished at 32,760.44

The 50-issue NSE Nifty too cracked the 10,200-mark and hit a low of 10,108.55 before finishing 104.75 points, or 1.02 per cent down at 10,121.80.

For the week, the Sensex recorded a fall of 846.30 points, or 2.51 per cent, while the NSE Nifty lost 267.90 points, or 2.57 per cent.

Reversing a five-quarter slide in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth, the economy bounced back from a three-year low to expand by 6.3 per cent in July-September as manufacturing revved up and businesses adjusted to the new GST tax regime, data released after market hours yesterday showed.

However, sentiment was dampened as India's fiscal deficit at the end of October hit 96.1 per cent of the budget estimate for 2017-18, mainly due to lower revenue realisation and rise in expenditure.