India's Sensex and Nifty fell for a second straight session on the monthly derivatives-expiry day, dragged down by HDFC Bank and other blue-chip laggards. The BSE benchmark dropped 539.35 points while the NSE Nifty slipped below 24,100, as persistent Middle East uncertainty kept sentiment cautious.
Benchmark indices fell sharply at the fag-end of trade on Thursday, with the 30-share BSE Sensex dropping 539.35 points, or 0.70%, to settle at the day's low of 76,933.59. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 116.90 points, or 0.48%, to end at the day's low of 24,090.85. Selling in HDFC Bank and persistent geopolitical uncertainty weighed on sentiment, and the fall marked the second straight day of losses on the monthly derivatives-expiry day.
HDFC Bank leads the laggards
Among the 30 Sensex firms, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech and ITC were the major laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra and Bharat Electronics were among the winners. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, pointed to "the lack of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East" as a factor keeping markets range-bound.
Mixed signals across global markets
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Shanghai's SSE Composite index ended higher, while Japan's Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index settled lower. Markets in Europe were trading mostly lower, and U.S. markets ended in negative territory on Wednesday. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, edged higher by 0.67% to $88.43 per barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors bought equities worth ₹502.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data, even as the Sensex declined 183.15 points, or 0.24%, to settle at 77,472.94 that session. The Nifty was down 126.80 points, or 0.52%, to end at 24,207.75 on Wednesday.
Source: The Hindu
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