The Sensex ended down by 219.25 points or 0.61% at 35470.35, while the Nifty was down 59.40 points or 0.55% at 10762.50.
Sharp selloff in the final hour of trade dragged equity benchmarks lower on Monday, with the Nifty giving up 10,800. Weakness in banks, automobiles and pharma, among others weighed on the bearish sentiment on D-Street.
The session began on a subdued note, in line with global cues, even as Nifty and Sensex traded around flat terrains. But the downward move came in when selloff in automobile and banking names continued through the day.
The Sensex ended down by 219.25 points or 0.61% at 35470.35, while the Nifty was down 59.40 points or 0.55% at 10762.50. The market breadth was in favour of negatives as 878 shares advanced, against a decline of 1718 shares, while 152 shares were unchanged.
Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Finance gained the most, while Tata Motors, ICICI Bank and HPCL were the top losers.
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“Sentiment across Asia was negative after the US Treasury department announced its decision to scrutinize Chinese investments in sensitive US industries concerned with economic and national security. This has heightened global tensions as the two powers play a game of one up-manship, pressurising markets across the globe,” Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund said in a statement.
Among stocks, shares of InterGlobe Aviation closed 1 percent lower after reports emerged that its chief commercial officer has resigned.
Meanwhile, Infosys ended over 2 percent higher as investors looked to bet on positive growth commentary by the management at its annual general meeting (AGM) over the weekend.
Tata Motors, on the other hand, had a weak day of trade. The stock has ended 6 percent lower on the back of auto imports tariff fears in EU, which has spilled over to Tata Motors as well. Additionally weak trends for JLR sales weighed on the stock.
PNB Housing Finance’s shares ended almost 14.50 percent higher on the back of reports that stated that HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank were looking to buy controlling stake in the firm. However, both PNB Housing and HDFC have denied such reports.
ICICI Bank’s shares were in focus as well as investors turned cautious of another whistle-blower allegation that pointed to accounting irregularities. The stock has ended four percent lower.
HEG’s shares ended 5 percent higher after Jefferies maintained its buy call with target of Rs 4,400. The global research firm is betting on expansion plan of 20,000 tonnes to capitalize on rise in demand.
Among global markets, indices in Asia traded mostly lower as investors were cautious on trade war fears between US and China. Meanwhile, in Europe, markets traded lower on possibilities of further tariffs being imposed by the US, particularly on EU-imported cars. The Stoxx 600 was 0.52 percent lower with every sector in the red.
In the precious metals space, gold gained Rs 50 to close at Rs 31,650 per ten gram at the bullion market on persistent buying by local jewellers despite a weak trend overseas.
Silver however fell by Rs 100 to Rs 40,900 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.
Traders said continued buying by local jewellers to meet increased demand for jewellery at domestic spot markets mainly kept gold prices higher, but a weak trend overseas capped the rise.
(With inputs from PTI)