Sensex slumps 336 pts; financial stocks play spoilsport

Equity benchmark Sensex Wednesday tumbled over 336 points to end at 36,108 on emergence of intense selling towards the fag-end mainly in FMCG, financial and IT stocks, while renewed concerns over US-China trade tiff further jolted investors' sentiment.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty slumped over 91 points to close at 10,831.

In the Sensex pack, ITC Ltd emerged as the biggest loser with its shares plunging 4.16 per cent after the company's quarterly results failed to enthuse investors.

ITC Ltd Wednesday reported 3.84 per cent increase in standalone net profit at Rs 3,209.07 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2018.

Other top losers on the index were PowerGrid, Infosys, Mahindra and Mahindra and NTPC -- falling as much as 1.85 per cent.

Traders said market remained range-bound for the better part of the session as investors kept their exposure at a low ebb due to weak global cues.

Towards the fag-end, the selling pressure gathered momentum after European markets opened in the negative zone.

However, some recovery in rupee amid slide in global crude brought some respite for domestic bourses that were otherwise appeared facing headwinds.

Global shares traded on a mixed note with a negative bias due to concerns over the state of ongoing US-China trade negotiations, amid reports that the White House has cancelled a trade planning meeting with Beijing this week.

"Market continued to trade on the downside as absence of major surprise from the quarter earnings failed to give direction. Investors are taking a cautious approach given their focus on global headwinds and upcoming general election. While FIIs are sellers in the market, expectation of slow pace in US FED rate hike and possibility of rate cut in India will ease liquidity crunch in the market," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services Ltd.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a firm note at 36,494.12 and advanced to a high of 36,521.47.

However, it succumbed to a late-session sell-off and finally ended at 36,108.75, down by 336.17 points, or 0.92 per cent. The gauge had lost 134.32 points in the previous session.

The NSE Nifty too tumbled 91.25 points, or 0.84 per cent, to close at 10,831.50 after moving between 10,811.95 and 10,944.75.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 78.53 crore Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth Rs 84.15 crore, provisional data showed.

Other than ITC, other laggards include PowerGrid, Infosys, M&M, NTPC, SBI, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, TCS, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, ONGC, RIL, Asian Paint, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank.

Among the winners, Sun Pharma continued to remain top performer, spurting 3.04 per cent, followed by Yes Bank at 2.71 per cent.

Also, Tata Steel gained 1.53 per cent, followed by HUL 0.90 per cent, Bajaj Finance 0.75 per cent, Vedanta Ltd 0.60 per cent, HCL Tech 0.57 per cent and L&T 0.02 per cent.

Sector-wise, the BSE metal FMCG index emerged worst performer by sinking 1.38 per cent, followed by power (1.24 per cent), IT (0.85 per cent), PSU (0.85 per cent), infrastructure (0.83 per cent), auto (0.71 per cent), bankex 0.68 per cent, realty 0.66 per cent, capital goods (0.37 per cent) and oil & gas (0.03 per cent).

While Metal index topped winner by surging 0.63 per cent, while healthcare gained 0.44 per cent.

In the broader markets, the mid-cap index and small-cap index fell up to 0.28 per cent.

Globally, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.14 per cent, Taiwan index fell 0.49 per cent, Singapore declined 0.,46 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.02 per cent. Shanghai Composite Index, however, rose 0.05 per cent in late morning deals. Japan's Nikkei also gained 0.04 per cent.

The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 1.22 per cent lower Tuesday.

European shares too were in negative zone in their ealy deals with Frankfurt's DAX falling 0.49 per cent and Paris CAC 40 down 0.39 per cent. London's FTSE fell 0.50 per cent.