Mumbai, May 9 (PTI): Benchmark indices nursed losses for the seventh session on the trot on Thursday as risk sentiment stayed subdued amid the US-China trade tensions and election season volatility.
Sustained foreign fund outflows and a declining rupee also dampened the market mood, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed 230.22 points, or 0.61 per cent, down at an over two-month low of 37,558.91. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty shed 57.65 points, or 0.51 per cent, to settle at 11,301.80.
The Sensex has now lost 1,472.64 points or 3.77 per cent in seven sessions, while the Nifty has declined by 446.35 points or 3.79 per cent.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack Thursday, ending 3.41 per cent lower.
It was followed by Coal India, Asian Paints, NTPC, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, Vedanta, PowerGrid and HDFC twins, which shed up to 2.53 per cent.
On the other hand, Yes Bank gained the most, spurting 5.94 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, Infosys, SBI, M&M, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors also rose up to 1.65 per cent.
On the global front, equities bore the brunt of fresh flare-up of tensions between the US and China.
Ahead of the next round of talks aimed at ending the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, China said it will retaliate if US raises tariffs on Chinese products.
The comments came after US President Donald Trump threatened to hike tariffs on USD 200 billion worth of goods earlier this week.
“Global markets continued to slide ahead of trade talks between the US and China. Though Indian markets are down almost 3 per cent in the last one month, MSCI India is still outperforming emerging markets over the past one month and three months.
“Investors will have to be prepared for volatility in global equities until some clarity emerges on US-China trade talks,” said Sunil Sharma, Chief Investment Officer, Sanctum Wealth Management.
Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said: “May continues to be an eventful month with just a few phases left of the general elections and the ongoing Q4FY19 earnings season will keep the market volatile in the short term.”
Sectorally, the BSE energy index dropped 2.63 per cent, followed by metal, telecom, power and bankex that shed up to 1.49 per cent. Teck, IT, realty and consumer durables indices rose up to 0.44 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices too ended in the red.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold equities worth INR 701.50 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased shares to the tune of INR 232.95 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
The Indian rupee depreciated 22 paise to 69.93 against the US dollar intra-day.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.10 per cent lower at USD 70.30 per barrel.
Bourses in other Asian countries ended significantly lower, with Shanghai Composite Index falling 1.48 per cent, Hang Seng 2.39 per cent, Nikkei 0.93 per cent and Kospi 3.04 per cent.
European stocks were also trading weak in early trade.
