Stock Market Continue to Tumble Third Straight Session

Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty logged their third straight session of losses as jittery investors braced for key events like US Fed policy, Union Budget and US-China trade talks.

After gyrating over 350 points, the BSE Sensex ended 64.20 points lower at 35,592. While, the NSE Nifty edged lower by over 9 points to close at 10,652.

The 30-share Sensex has lost over 600 points in the last three sessions.

Meanwhile, global shares were positive with key Asian bourses witnessing mixed trading activities and Europe opening higher.

On the global front, the focus will be on the US Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Thursday and developments around the Brexit deal.

Back home, investors are keenly awaiting the upcoming interim Union Budget on February 1 amid expectations of some populist announcements, which analysts believe may derail the government from fiscal consolidation path.

“Market opened on a negative note due to uncertainties surrounding the global market and upcoming US Fed policy. However, towards the closing, market managed to recoup some of the  losses supported by strengthening rupee and short-covering ahead of F&O expiry. Market is not completely out of the wood as volatility may extend in the coming days due to interim budget and election-led uncertainty,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

Among the Sensex pack, Yes Bank, L&T, HDFC, RIL, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid and Coal India were the biggest losers — falling up to 2.43%.

Other laggards were Kotak Bank, ONGC, Mahindra and Mahindra, SBI, Tata Steel and Infosys.

Among the top gainers were Sun Pharma, rallying 2.61%. It was followed by Bajaj Finance, TCS, Asian Paints, ITC, HCL Tech — rising up to 2.61%.

During the day, the 30-share Sensex touched an intra-day high of 35,734.14 and dipped to a low of 35,375.51. It finally settled with a loss of 64.20 points, or 0.18%, at 35,592.50. While, the broader NSE Nifty settled 9.35 points, or 0.09%, down at 10,652.20.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth a net of Rs 223.44 crore Monday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 92.32 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

The rupee, meanwhile, was trading flat against US dollar at 71.09. The crude benchmark Brent futures rose 1.05 per cent to USD 60.44 per barrel.

According to analysts, global investor sentiment turned jittery after the US charged Chinese telecom giant Huawei with a series of crimes including stealing trade secrets, a move that can escalate hostilities between the world’s biggest economic powers and complicate efforts to negotiate an end to their bruising trade war.

However, the White House on Monday denied that there was any link between the two.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.16 per cent and Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.10%, while Korea’s Kospi rebounded 0.28% and Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.07%. In the eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX was up 0.01%, while Paris CAC 40 rose 0.42%in late morning deals. While, London’s FTSE jumped 1.12%. On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.84% lower on Monday.