Photo: The Hindu Business line
Chennai, India (BBN) - The Sensex and Nifty snapped an eight-session gaining streak to end lower on Tuesday amid caution ahead of September-quarter economic growth data, and dragged down by market heavyweights such as Reliance Industries Ltd and Infosys Ltd.
The broader NSE index closed down 29.3 points or 0.28 per cent at 10,370.25, while the benchmark BSE index ended 105.85 points or 0.31 per cent lower at 33,618.59, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Barring FMCG and auto, all other BSE sectoral indices ended in the negative zone. Among them, consumer durables index fell the most by 0.92 per cent, TECk 0.64 per cent, PSU 0.61 per cent and IT 0.55 per cent. On the other hand, FMCG index was up 0.1 per cent and auto 0.04 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Maruti (+1.48%), HDFC (+1.03%), Coal India (+1.03%), Asian Paints (+1.01%) and Bajaj Auto (+0.68%), while the major losers were NTPC (-1.88%), Bharti Airtel (-1.56%), Infosys (-1.3%), Tata Motors (-1.23%) and Sun Pharma (-1.19%).
Analysts anticipate volatility in the markets amid hopes of a recovery in GDP for the quarter, especially since economic growth slid to a three-year low in April-June.
“Markets are steadily moving up and there will be pull-backs on odd days,” said Sudhakar Pattabiraman, head of research operations at MarketSmith, which is part of financial services provider William O'Neil.
“Investors are usually cautious ahead of major data,” he added.
Asian shares stepped back from decade highs as Chinese stocks stumbled for a second straight session, while the US dollar trod water ahead of a crucial Senate vote on tax reform.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia–Pacific shares outside Japan slipped 0.3 per cent from last week’s high of 570.21 points. It was on track to end November in the black.
The index has been on an uptrend most of this year, posting a monthly loss only once in 2017. Australian shares were flat while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.2 per cent.
Wall Street had been mixed on Monday, with the S&P 500 off a touch, the Nasdaq losing 0.1 per cent and the Dow up 0.1 per cent.
BBN/MMI/ANS