Sensex Closes 61 Points Lower, Nifty Settles At 10,426: 10 Points

The BSE Sensex rose as much as 159 points to hit an intraday high of 34,077 in late morning deals but gave up day's gains in the afternoon session.

Business | | Updated: March 13, 2018 16:26 IST
Sensex Closes 61 Points Lower, Nifty Settles At 10,426: 10 Points

The NSE Nifty settled 5 points lower at 10,426

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 61 points to close at 33,856 on Tuesday, dragged down by IT stocks. The 30-scrip BSE benchmark index rose as much as 159 points to hit an intraday high of 34,077 in late morning deals but gave up the day's gains during the afternoon session. The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty settled five points lower at 10,426. The Sensex and Nifty finished on a lower note despite retail inflation hitting a four-month low in February.
Here are 10 things to know:
  1. Gains during Tuesday's session were restricted following a weak trend in Asian markets and overnight in the US markets.
  2. Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) was the biggest loser on the 50-scrip NSE Nifty. TCS shares closed 5.4 per cent lower at Rs 2,886.80 on the National Stock Exchange, after Tata Sons sold about 1.5 per cent of its shares for about $1.25 billion in a block deal. Tata Sons is the holding company of TCS.
  3. The BSE's sub-index for IT stocks - BSE IT - finished the day 1.6 per cent lower. Among other IT stocks, HCL Tech fell 1.1 per cent and Infosys settled 0.2 per cent lower.
  4. PSU bank shares rose after a report said that Punjab National Bank (PNB) will compensate lenders who have lost money in an alleged fraud. Bank of India finished the day with a gain of 7.5 per cent, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India rose around 7 per cent and Canara Bank nearly 6 per cent. SBI closed 0.8 per cent higher.
  5. Retail inflation, based on CPI or Consumer Price Index - eased to 4.44 per cent in February from 5.1 per cent in January, but remained above the 4 per cent medium-term target of the Reserve Bank of India.
  6. Factory output - determined by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) - was measured at 7.5 per cent in the month of January. It was higher than 3.5 per cent recorded in the corresponding month of 2017, separate data showed.
  7. While cheaper food articles and lower cost for fuel pushed consumer inflation lower, industrial output spurted due to a good show by manufacturing coupled with higher offtake of consumer and capital goods.
  8. The Reserve Bank of India, which has kept rates steady since a 25-basis-point cut in August, is widely expected to maintain rates at their current level next month. In its February 7 policy statement, the RBI kept the repo rate - the key rate at which the central bank lends to other banks - unchanged at 6 per cent.
  9. On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs. 374.65 crore while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs. 464.59 crore on Monday, provisional data showed.
  10. Other laggards on the Nifty 50 included Kotak Mahindra Bank, NTPC and Coal India - finishing the session around 1 per cent lower.
(With agency inputs)

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