Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 21 ended lower and one remained unchanged
The Sensex dived for the fourth straight session today to close at almost a two-week low of 26,375 by falling about 115 points, tracking negative leads from the global market amid continuous funds outflow.
Concerns over soaring oil prices, trading above the $55 a barrel overseas, and absence of any market-moving event weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark was in loss zone throughout the day and hit a low of 26,340.38 before settling at 26,374.70 -- its weakest closing since December 7 -- down 114.86 points, or 0.43 per cent.
The index had fallen 208.26 points in the previous three sessions.
The 50-issue NSE Nifty tumbled 35.10 points, or 0.43 per cent, to close 8,104.35 after cracking the key 8,100-mark and touching a low of 8,094.85.
Mood remained subdued, largely due to a weak trend in Asia and a lower opening in Europe, reflecting losses on the Wall Street hit by concerns about a flare-up in US-China tension.
Overseas markets traded weak after Chinese government researchers saw China's GDP slowing in 2017, said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, senior fund manager – equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.
Moreover, market turned lacklustre in view of approaching holiday season year ending as FIIs preferred to keep their volume at a lower level while pulling out funds from emerging markets, traders said.
"Domestic market is overhanging in expectation of weak Q3 of 2016-17 results, risk of further slowdown in the March quarter and postponement of GST," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.
Asian Paints suffered the most by diving 2.35 per cent followed by Sun Pharma at 2.30 per cent.
Out of the 30-share Sensex pack, 21 ended lower and one remained unchanged.
Other key losers are HDFC 1.58 per cent, Bharti Airtel (1.56 per cent), Adani Ports (1.32 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (1.32 per cent), SBI (1.27 per cent), Axis Bank (1.11 per cent), Dr Reddy's (1.06 per cent) and L&T (1.02 per cent).
GAIL rose 2.23 per cent followed by ICICI Bank (0.51 per cent), RIL (0.43 per cent) and Cipla (0.43 per cent).
Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables fell by 1.24 per cent followed by healthcare 0.85 per cent, capital goods 0.84 per cent, metal 0.79 per cent, realty 0.69 per cent, auto 0.59 per cent and banking 0.27 per cent.
In regional markets, Hong Kong stocks led the decline by slumping 0.85 per cent while China's Shanghai Composite fell 0.16 per cent. Japan's Nikkei shed 0.05 per cent.
European markets traded lower as the key indices in France, Germany and the UK were down in the range of 0.11-0.30 per cent.
Foreign portfolio investors offloaded shares worth net Rs 90.36 crore last Friday, as per provisional data.
The session saw buying in oil and gas and energy segments after the government increased petrol and diesel prices.
The market breadth turned negative as 1,552 stocks ended lower and 1,077 closed higher while 191 ruled stable.
The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2,421.24 crore, lower than Rs 3,140.33 crore registered during the previous trading session.
Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
