Nifty slips 23 points ahead of no-trust vote

Mumbai, Jul 19 (PTI) Benchmark Nifty ended 23.35 points lower today on selling led by pharma, IT, financial service, private bank and metal sectors.

The market continued to remain under pressure a day ahead of voting on the no-confidence motion against the government in the Lok Sabha.

Buying was witnessed in FMCG, PSU Bank and energy counters.

Opening higher, the market turned volatile and remained range-bound throughout the session. Caution ruled as investors preferred to remain on the sidelines as the shares witnessed profit-booking at higher levels.

Coming to global markets, Asian shares declined. Japan logged a trade surplus in June, after booking a deficit the previous month, official data showed today.

Most European stocks fell as investors focused on a mixed bag of company results.

The 50-share NSE ended lower at 10,957.10, losing 23.35 points, or 0.21 per cent, after shuttling between 11,006.50 and 10,935.45.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 71.05 points.

Sector-wise, Pharma fell by 1.53 per cent, followed by IT 0.97 per cent, Finance Service 0.63 per cent, Private Bank 0.63 per cent, Metal 0.53 per cent, Bank 0.34 per cent, Media 0.20 per cent and Auto 0.09 per cent.

On the other hand, FMCG rose by 0.76 per cent, PSU Bank 0.51 per cent and Energy 0.47 per cent.

Major index losers were Hindalco, Bharti Infra Tel, Kotak Bank, Cipla and L&T.

Index gainers included Titan, Bharti Airtel, Yes Bank, Vedanta and ITC.

Market breadth was heavily weighed towards the negative zone. A total of 1,309 scrips declined, 497 advanced while 90 remained unchanged.

Total securities that hit their price bands were 247.

Turnover in the cash segment fell to Rs 27,888.39 crore from Rs 29,630.86 crore yesterday.

A total of 13,560.73 lakh shares changed hands in 10,517,502 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,44,22,039 crore. PTI RD ABM ABM