BSE Sensex tanks 389 points, markets spooked by escalation in Middle East tensions
BSE Sensex is trading at 72,099 points, down 389 points on Friday as domestic equities continued their losing spree amid escalation in Middle East tensions.
Negative global cues, coupled with heavy selling pressure in banking and metal stocks, dragged the Indian equity markets lower during the mid-afternoon trade session on Thursday.
Stocks of banking majors like Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were among the top losers on the BSE.
According to market observers, RBI's decision to reduce key lending rates could not lift investors' sentiments. The Reserve Bank of India in its third bi-monthly monetary policy review of 2017-18 on Wednesday lowered the repurchase and reverse repurchase rate by 25 basis points.
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At 1.00 p.m., the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) fell by 33.80 points, or 0.34 per cent, to trade at 10,047.70 points.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which opened at 32,502.55 points, traded at 32,347.54 points — down 129.20 points, or 0.40 per cent — from its previous close at 32,476.74 points.
The Sensex has so far touched a high of 32,502.55 points and a low of 32,282.46 points during intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bearish with 1,471 declines and 962 advances.
"The benchmark indices opened lower tracking muted trend seen in Asian markets as investors locked in recent gains after Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 22,000 barrier for the first time in its 121-year history. Back home, investors were disappointed with just 25 bps rate cut by RBI as it was already priced in, believe experts," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.
"The Indian rupee opened higher against the US dollar. The shares of Cipla, Lupin, and TCS rose, whereas the shares of Asian Paint and Kotak Bank fell. Oil marketing companies were trading higher."
On Wednesday, the benchmark indices were pulled lower to close on a subdued note on the back of broadly negative European markets and profit booking.
The Nifty fell by 33.15 points, or 0.33 per cent, to close at 10,081.50 points, while the Sensex closed at 32,476.74 points — down 98.43 points, or 0.30 per cent.
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