Mumbai, May 31 (PTI): Benchmark indices slipped from higher levels to settle lower on Thursday as investors looked beyond positive political developments and weighed concerns around global trade war and macro-economic indicators.
In a highly volatile session, the benchmark BSE Sensex ended 118 points lower, dragged by losses mainly in auto and financial stocks.
The NSE Nifty too edged 23 points down to settle below the 12,000-mark. However, on a weekly basis, the Sensex gained 279.4 points and the Nifty rose 78.70 points.
Post announcement of key portfolios in newly elected government, focus to shift towards various economic reforms and policies.
After gyrating nearly 750 points, the 30-share index settled 117.77 points, or 0.30 per cent, lower at 39,714.20. The gauge hit an intra-day low of 39,374.24 and a high of 40,122.34.
The broader NSE Nifty also settled lower by 23.10 points, or 0.19 per cent, at 11,922.80. During the day, the index hit a low of 11,829.45 and a high of 12,039.25.
Yes Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, falling 4.27 per cent. Other losers include ITC, Vedanta and M&M, shedding up to 3.61 per cent.
Asian Paints, TCS and HCL Tech were among the gainers, rising up to 2.43 per cent.
Sectorally, BSE power, metal, FMCG, utilities, basic materials, auto and banking indices fell up to 1.30 per cent.
While, BSE teck, oil and gas, telecom and energy indices rose up to 1.07 per cent.
Broader indices ended on a mixed note with, BSE smallcap slipping 0.65 per cent and BSE midcap rising 0.23 per cent.
Investors also appeared cautious ahead of GDP data, scheduled for release later in the day, traders said.
BJP President Amit Shah who played a crucial role in the return of his party's government at the Centre will be the new Home Minister in Modi 2.0 Cabinet while incumbent Rajnath Singh has moved to Defence, another high profile ministry.
Outgoing Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will be the new Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs while surprise inductee, former foreign secretary S Jaishankar, has been allocated the critical Ministry of External Affairs, the Rashtrapati Bhavan announced on Friday.
"Benchmark indices ended this week on a volatile note. After opening positive, Sensex reversed its trend and closed negative by 117 points. Near-term events to be closely tracked are India's Q4FY19 GDP rate, infrastructure output for April, and foreign exchange reserves data...," Hemang Jani, Head - Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, said.
"Auto sales data for the month of May to be released on June 1 followed by the RBI monetary Policy on June 6. On global front, US-China trade wars along with rise in oil price will determine further trend. We continue to remain optimistic on equity markets and prefer Private banks," Jani said.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth INR 1,664.74 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of INR 1,122.60 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
Weak trend in global markets too weighed on investor sentiment here, traders said.
Asian bourses ended on a mixed note, while Europe was trading in the red in opening deals.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee appreciated by 17 paise to 69.70 against the US dollar on Friday.
Brent crude futures, the global benchmark, fell 2.62 per cent to 63.62 per barrel.
