Sensex drops 110 pts, Nifty slides for 6th day on FII selling

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex declined by 110 points in a see-saw trade on Thursday, marking its third straight session of losses amid continued FII selling, disappointing quarterly results and soaring inflation.

The 30-share Sensex dropped 110.64 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 77,580.31 in a lacklustre trade. The index started on a positive note but lost momentum later due to increased selling. During the day, it dropped 266.14 points or 0.34 per cent to 77,424.81.

Broader NSE Nifty dropped by 26.35 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 23,532.70, extending its losing streak to the sixth day.

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Nestle, IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, Adani Ports, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finserv were the major laggards.

Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tech Mahindra, Mahindra & Mahindra and HDFC Bank were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,502.58 crore on Wednesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 6,145.24 crore, according to exchange data.

"The domestic market experienced a lacklustre trading, but some stability was observed throughout the day, from the low. The sustainability of this trend remains uncertain as FIIs continue to be on the selling side. But on a positive note the degree of selling is reducing," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

After a brief positive start driven by gains in HDFC Bank, Reliance, and major IT stocks, both Sensex and Nifty reversed the course as global pressures and persistent foreign investor selling weighed on sentiment, Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory, PL Capital - Prabhudas Lilladher, said.

Wholesale price inflation rose to a four-month high of 2.36 per cent in October as prices of food items, especially vegetables, and manufactured goods turned dearer, showed the government data released on Thursday.

Retail inflation breached the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, soaring to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October mainly on account of rising food prices.

"Markets witnessed a range-bound session with a negative bias as selective selling in FMCG, oil & gas and power stocks weighed on the sentiment. Despite the lacklustre trend, selective buying in realty, auto, banking and telecom stocks kept the losses under check," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.83 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.41 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, utilities declined 0.88 per cent, oil & gas (0.48 per cent), power (0.37 per cent), services (0.09 per cent), metal (0.07 per cent) and consumer durables (0.05 per cent).

Realty jumped 1.11 per cent, BSE consumer discretionary (0.81 per cent), telecommunication (0.64 per cent), auto (0.60 per cent) and commodities (0.33 per cent).

In Asian markets, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Seoul ended in the positive territory.

European markets were trading higher. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.06 per cent to USD 72.24 a barrel.

Sensex tanked 984.23 points or 1.25 per cent to settle at 77,690.95 on Wednesday. Registering its fifth day of decline, the Nifty tumbled 324.40 points or 1.36 per cent to 23,559.05.

Equity markets will remain closed on Friday for Guru Nanak Jayanti.