Mumbai, May 19 (PTI): Extending losses for the fourth straight session, the NSE Nifty dropped 86 points to end at 10,596 due to persistent selling in some key sectors.
A mild selling was seen in sectors like metal, pharma, infra, banking and auto. Higher crude oil prices and concerns over fiscal health mainly dented investors’ sentiment. Besides, uncertainty over the Karnataka government formation added to the woes.
Lack of progress in US-China trade tariff talks and weaker rupee, which breached the 68-level against the US dollar, also weighed on the traders’ sentiments.
The 50-share NSE Nifty closed at 10,596.40, down 86.30 points, or 0.81 per cent, its lowest since April 25, 2018. The index hit a high of 10,674.95 and a low of 10,589.10 intra-day.
It saw a change of 85.85 points during the intra-day movement.
On the sectoral front, metal dropped by 2.41 per cent, followed by pharma 2.27 per cent, infra 2.08 per cent, PSU banks 1.85 per cent, auto 1.72 per cent, realty 1.50 per cent, media 1.35 per cent, energy 1.16 per cent, private banks 0.65 per cent, banks 0.76 per cent and IT 0.34 per cent.
On the other hand, FMCG rose by 1.25 per cent. Major index gainers were Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank and ITC.
Among the losers were: Cipla, Wipro, ICICI bank, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Larsen.
The market breadth turned positive. A total of 467 scrips advanced, 1,335 declined and 69 remained unchanged.
Total securities that touched their price band were 212.
Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 32,483.65 crore from Rs 30,694.61 crore as on Thursday.
A total of 20,964.10 lakh shares changed hands in 11,217,342 trades. The market capitalisation of the listed firms on the NSE stood at Rs 1,45,39,497.97 crore.
