Sensex Ends 204 Points Lower As Markets Resume Fall After A Day's Break

The S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 indexes resumed declines after a day's breather, dragged lower by selling pressure in HDFC, IndusInd Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank and Tata Motors. Earlier in the day, the benchmarks opened higher on the back of buying interest in energy, FMCG and information technology shares but wiped out gains in the last hour of trade as banking, auto and finance sector shares witnessed selling pressure. The Sensex fell as much as 512 points from the day's highest level and the Nifty 50 Index dropped below its crucial psychological level of 11,150.

The Sensex ended 204 points or 0.55 per cent lower at 37,115 and the NSE Nifty 50 Index fell 65 points or 0.58 per cent to close at 11,157.

Selling pressure in the equity markets is because of uncertainty over outcome of general elections and ongoing trade tensions between US and China, analysts said.

Meanwhile, selling of Indian shares by foreign institutional investors is also adding to the weak sentiment in markets, analysts added. In yesterday's session alone foreign portfolio investors (FPI) were net sellers of shares worth Rs 2,012 crore. So far this month, FPIs have sold shares worth over Rs 3,500 crore, according to data compiled by NSDL.

Sixteen of the 19 sector gauges compiled by BSE ended lower led by the S&P BSE Metal Index's 2 per cent decline. Power, auto, utilities, telecom, bankex, industrials and basic materials sector gauges also dropped in range of 0.9 and 1.96 per cent each.

On the flipside, the Realty index was the top gainer, up 0.2 per cent.

The mid- and small-cap shares also witnessed selling pressure as the S&P BSE MidCap Index fell 0.7 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap Index declined 0.45 per cent.

In the Nifty 50 basket of shares, Yes Bank was top loser, the stock fell 9 per cent to Rs 142.35 after the Reserve Bank of India appointed former deputy RBI Governor R Gandhi as Additional Director on the board of the bank for a period of two years.

Tata Motors, Zee Entertainment, JSW Steel, IndusInd Bank, GAIL India, Coal India and Grasim Industries were also among the losers.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, Eicher Motors, UPL, Bajaj Finserv, Indian Oil and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the gainers.