Sensex cracks 157 points as banks fall, BoJ disappoints

Markets kicked off new F&O series on a sour note today, with the BSE Sensex falling 157 points to 28,051.86 hit by profit-booking in banking stocks while global cues remained muted on Bank of Japan’s smaller-than-expected stimulus plan. However, on a weekly basis, the Sensex rose 248.62 points or 0.89 per cent and the NSE Nifty perked up 97.30 points or 1.13 per cent. Both the indexes are up for a fifth consecutive month.

On the day, country’s largest private sector lender ICICI Bank plunged 3.40 per cent to Rs 262.85 ahead of its quarterly result. Many state-run and private sector banks, which have declared their earnings numbers for April-June period, witnessed rise in bad loans.

Infrastructure giant Larsen & Toubro, which reported a 46 per cent jump in net profit to Rs 610 crore for June quarter after the market closing, slipped 1.20 per cent to Rs 1,558.

“Volatility continues to plague stock markets as benchmark indices traded with spikes through the day. August derivatives series seem to have started on a tepid note,” said Shreyash Devalkar, Fund Manager Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

The 30-share Sensex despite opening higher, stayed in the negative zone for the most part of the session and touched a low of 28,037.87. The gauge finally settled 156.76 points or 0.56 per cent down at 28,051.86.

The 50-share NSE Nifty ended 27.80 points or 0.32 per cent down at 8,638.50.

Both the indices had witnessed buying activity in the last two sessions on positive signals over the GST bill and improvement in corporate earnings.

However, broader markets outperformed the Sensex with the mid-cap and small-cap indices rising 0.70 per cent and 0.23 per cent, respectively.

Globally, trading sentiment was bearish as the BoJ disappointed by keeping interest rates and government bond buying unchanged, at a time when many analysts were expecting the central bank to be bold with economy boosting measures.

Despite this, the Nikkei 225 Average ended 0.56 per cent higher but other Asian indices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan fell by up to 1.71 per cent.

Europe was narrowly mixed as indices in France and the UK eased by up to 0.24 per cent while Germany’s Dax was higher by 0.43 per cent.

Major losers included Bharti Airtel 2.70 per cent, HDFC 1.92 per cent, Wipro 1.32 per cent, L&T 1.20 per cent, Asian Paints 1.09 per cent and RIL 1.03 per cent.

However, Adani Ports rose 2.95 per cent followed by Lupin 2.15 per cent, Bajaj Auto 1.89 per cent, Cipla 1.83 per cent, HUL 1.47 per cent, Tata Steel 1.27 per cent, M&M 1.01 per cent and Sun Pharma 0.72 per cent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, telecom fell by 1.64 per cent followed by consumer durables 0.92 per cent, capital goods 0.73 per cent, bankex 0.63 per cent, metal 0.63 per cent and finance 0.53 per cent.

However, auto, healthcare and utilities inched up. The market breadth turned negative as 1,457 stocks ended in red and 1,224 scrips closed higher while 214 ruled steady. Total turnover fell to Rs 3,671.73 crore from Rs 4,042.79 crore yesterday.