Hindu Business Line file photo
Chennai, India (BBN) - The benchmark BSE Sensex was trading down by over 80 points as Standard & Poor's has maintained status quo on India's sovereign rating.
At 1.30 a.m., the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 83.58 or 0.25 per cent at 33,595.66 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 34.65 points or 0.33 per cent at 10,355.05, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Among BSE sectoral indices, metal index fell the most by 0.99 per cent, followed by IT 0.56 per cent, FMCG 0.55 per cent and TECk 0.36 per cent. On the other hand, realty index gained 1.03 per cent, followed by consumer durables 0.68 per cent, infrastructure 0.49 per cent and capital goods 0.44 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Axis Bank (+2.4%), NTPC (+2.16%), ONGC (+1.44%), Wipro (+0.48%) and L&T (+0.47%), while the major losers were Infosys (-1.48%), Adani Ports (-1.38%), Tata Motors (-1.15%), ICICI Bank (-1.03%) and Tata Steel (-0.97%).
The rating agency had maintained its “BBB-minus” sovereign rating and “stable” outlook for India on Friday, citing low income levels, high debt and weaker government finances.
Bond yields too rose 3 basis points to 7.03 per cent on the back of S&P rating review, though investors are now awaiting key macrodata due later this week for cues.
The S&P rating was slightly disappointing as some upgrade had been anticipated following Moody's recent positive rating action, said Anita Gandhi, whole-time director at Arihant Capital Markets.
“In terms of valuations, markets are slightly on the higher side. The driving factor going forward will be the GDP and fiscal deficit data, expected on Thursday,” she added.
The Nifty PSU bank index fell as much as 1.3 per cent in its third straight session of losses, with State Bank of India shedding more than 1 per cent.
Infosys Ltd lost more than 1 per cent after gaining in the last four sessions as investors booked profits.
Axis Bank Ltd was the top gainer on the NSE index, rising as much as 2.3 per cent in its third straight session of gains.
“Axis Bank did not participate in the earlier rally of private banking stocks. The stock is still available at a relatively cheaper valuation,” Gandhi said.
Traders also remained wary due to likely rise in volatility ahead of expiry of November futures & options contracts and OPEC meeting on oil output cut later this week.
Asian stocks gave back earlier modest gains and fell back from a decade high on Monday, weighed by weakness in the Chinese and South Korean markets, while the euro reached a two-month top against the dollar.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia–Pacific shares outside Japan rose early in the session on Friday’s Wall Street gains but was last down 0.65 per cent.
BBN/MMI/ANS