MARKETS ON THURSDAY: Indices end lower, Nifty below 10,700; IT stocks fall

Benchmark indices declined on Thursday, dragged down by IT and pharma stocks

SI Reporter  |  New Delhi 

Market rundown by Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services   "Market remained volatile throughout as US china talks rekindled fears of escalation of trade war. This meant that profit booking persisted, even in an otherwise buoyant IT sector, resigning Nifty to languish around the 10700 level. Expectation is that positive FOMC outcome and earnings positivity will seek to extend markets’ uptrend, but FII’s persistent remains a concern." Nifty IT index ends 2.04% lower. Top losers: COMPANY LATEST PREV CLOSE LOSS() LOSS(%) HCL TECHNOLOGIES 925.70 1000.50 -74.80 -7.48 MINDTREE 1031.85 1051.65 -19.80 -1.88 WIPRO 271.45 275.55 -4.10 -1.49 TECH MAHINDRA 652.95 662.55 -9.60 -1.45 INFIBEAM INCORP. 162.85 164.85 -2.00 -1.21 Nifty sectoral gainers and losers of the day BSE Sensex: Sun Pharma, Tata Steel among top gainers of the day, Asian Paint among top loser Market at close   The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 35,103, down 73 points while the broader Nifty50 index settled at 10,680, down 38 points. Gold extends gains; all eyes on US-China trade talks Gold prices rose for a second session on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady as expected at the end of a two-day policy meeting, while investors awaited U.S.-China trade talks.   Spot gold rose 0.2 percent to $1,307.05 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery rose 0.2 percent to $1,307.60 per ounce. READ MORE  

Benchmark indices declined on Thursday, dragged down by IT and pharma stocks, while caution prevailed as hopes waned for real progress in Sino-US trade talks due later in the day.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index was over 1% down led by fall in the shares of HCL Technologies and MindTree.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation slumped nearly 20% during the day to hit their lowest in seven months and wiped out nearly Rs 101.13 billion ($1.52 billion) in market capitalisation after it posted a 73% plunge in profit on Wednesday.

Going ahead, the investors will also be mindful of the upcoming state elections in Karnataka on May 12 that are being seen as a semi-final to the general elections scheduled in 2019.

Gloablly, Asian shares fell, while the US dollar consolidated recent bumper gains after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed the outlook for more rate hikes. Reports that the Trump administration is considering executive action to restrict some Chinese companies’ ability to sell telecoms equipment in the United States were a dampener.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and expressed confidence that the recent rise in inflation at a level near the US central bank's target would be sustained, keeping it on track to raise borrowing costs in June. It was widely expected that the US central bank would keep rates unchanged in May 2018, but might raise them again in June 2018.

(with Reuters inputs)
First Published: Thu, May 03 2018. 15:34 IST

MARKETS ON THURSDAY: Indices end lower, Nifty below 10,700; IT stocks fall

Benchmark indices declined on Thursday, dragged down by IT and pharma stocks

Benchmark indices declined on Thursday, dragged down by IT and pharma stocks Benchmark indices declined on Thursday, dragged down by IT and pharma stocks, while caution prevailed as hopes waned for real progress in Sino-US trade talks due later in the day.

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty IT index was over 1% down led by fall in the shares of HCL Technologies and MindTree.

Shares of InterGlobe Aviation slumped nearly 20% during the day to hit their lowest in seven months and wiped out nearly Rs 101.13 billion ($1.52 billion) in market capitalisation after it posted a 73% plunge in profit on Wednesday.

Going ahead, the investors will also be mindful of the upcoming state elections in Karnataka on May 12 that are being seen as a semi-final to the general elections scheduled in 2019.

Gloablly, Asian shares fell, while the US dollar consolidated recent bumper gains after the Federal Reserve reaffirmed the outlook for more rate hikes. Reports that the Trump administration is considering executive action to restrict some Chinese companies’ ability to sell telecoms equipment in the United States were a dampener.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and expressed confidence that the recent rise in inflation at a level near the US central bank's target would be sustained, keeping it on track to raise borrowing costs in June. It was widely expected that the US central bank would keep rates unchanged in May 2018, but might raise them again in June 2018.

(with Reuters inputs)
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