Indian benchmarks Sensex and the Nifty were down on a losing streak for the second consecutive day, the NSE Nifty 50 ended its session by recording a drop of 63 points or 0.3% coming down to 24,752 points while the BSE Sensex was down by 240 points or 0.29% coming down to 81,312 at the end of the day. The Broader Markets gained today. The Nifty Small Cap gained 0.33% while the Nifty Mid Cap closed flat.
The markets lost heavyweights today because of the losses recorded in the FMCG sector. The stocks of Nestle and ITC saw a heavy sellout today, which pushed down the NIFTY FMCG. The sector almost lost 1.49%, making it the sector that lost the maximum points today. But why did the ITC become the laggard today? The reason for this is because of a British firm, BAT plc, trimmed its stake by 2.3% in ITC through a block deal worth almost 11 crores.
Even other major finance stocks, including IndusInd Bank, which was performing well on a 5-day winning streak. It fell by 2% after JP Morgan cut its rating and target price from Rupees 770 to Rupees 660. Other major stocks that fell were HDFC, Reliance, M&M, Ultra Tech, Sun Pharma, etc. They fell by 2%.
This also happened because profit booking sectors within sectors like auto, metal and IT have also exerted pressure on the markets and profit booking does play a role in bringing down the market.
If we look at the broader picture of the markets, they look quite positive. The NSE Nifty Media looks to emerge as the top gainer of the day. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, at Geojit Investment Ltd, said that the market sentiment remained negative primarily because of a lack of support from FII’s and prevailing premium valuations. He further added that lingering concerns over US-India trade relations pose a threat despite a 90-day pause. The domestic markets have been performing well and seem very bullish, but the experts suggest that investors maintain caution.
