Market tumbles as worries over economy, global trade deepen

Mumbai, November 13

Domestic bourses witnessed a broad-based sell-off on Wednesday as weak macro data, stumbling rupee and confusion over US-China trade deal fanned investor worries.

At closing bell, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 229.02 points, or 0.57 points, lower at 40,116.06. The index swung 386 points during the day.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 73 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 11,840.45.

In the Sensex pack, Yes Bank was the top loser, cracking 6.51 per cent, followed by SBI, Axis Bank, Vedanta, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, ITC, Infosys and Tech Mahindra—shedding up to 3.69 per cent.

On the other hand, TCS, RIL, HUL, Maruti and NTPC rose up to 3.76 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE metal, realty, bankex, basic materials, capital goods, utilities, healthcare and finance indices fell up to 2.27 per cent.

While BSE energy, consumer durables and IT indices rose up to 1.60 per cent.

Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices plunged up to 1.13 per cent.

Investor sentiment was dampened by weak macroeconomic indicators, suggesting slowdown is deep and the recovery needs more reform measures.

The industrial production shrank by 4.3 per cent in September, registering the weakest performance in seven years due to output decline in manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors.

“Post the recent rally, the gap between valuation and earnings growth has enlarged. Influencing investors to stay cautious ahead of heavy economic data being released this week. Weak economic data and concerns over slowdown in earnings growth is hurting investor sentiments,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

Despite a series of rate cut from the RBI, core sector growth remains muted and inflation is inching higher which may incline RBI to be watchful in the future, he added.

Market is now eyeing consumer price inflation data, which is scheduled to be released later in the day, for further guidance.

Further, an SBI research report on Tuesday sharply cut the country’s GDP growth forecast to 5 per cent for FY 2019-20 from the earlier projection of 6.1 per cent, raising concerns over the health of the economy.

A sharp depreciation in the Indian rupee too added to investors’ woes, traders said. The rupee dropped below the 72-level against the US dollar in intra-day trade.

Continued unrest in Hong Kong led to fall in regional markets, also impacting sentiment on Indian bourses.

Posing questions over the much-anticipated truce deal, US President Donald Trump dubbed China a cheater on trade even as he seeks an initial settlement to calm an 18-month trade war, adding to the uncertainty over the deal between the two countries.

Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul settled up to 1.82 per cent lower violent protests in Hong Kong.

Exchanges in Europe were also trading in the red in their respective early deals.

Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.22 per cent to USD 61.30 per barrel. PTI