Sensex drops 135 points to end at 37,848, Nifty also slips down by 60 points

Extending losses for the fifth consecutive session, equity benchmark BSE Sensex lost 135 points while the NSE Nifty fell below the 11,300 mark on Wednesday after the IMF cut India’s growth outlook.

After swinging 394 points, the 30-share Sensex ended 135.09 points or 0.36 per cent lower at 37,847.65. It hit an intra-day low of 37,708.41 and a high of 38,102.84.

The broader NSE Nifty slipped 59.75 points or 0.53 per cent to close at 11,271.30. During the day, the index hit a low of 11,229.80 and a high of 11,359.75.

Top losers in the Sensex pack included IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, M&M, Vedanta and Maruti, falling up to 3.50 per cent.

On the other hand, Asian Paints was the biggest gainer, rallying 3.42 per cent, after the company reported an 18 per cent increase in consolidated net profit for the June quarter.

HUL, HDFC twins, HCL Tech and ITC too ended in the green, spurting up to 2.06 per cent.

Besides unabated foreign fund outflows and tepid corporate earnings, IMF’s downward revision of India’s economic outlook further hit domestic investor sentiment, traders said.

In the previous session, the 30-share index ended 48.39 points, or 0.13 per cent, lower at 37,982.74. The Nifty too slipped 15.15 points, or 0.13 per cent, to close at 11,331.05.

In early trade, shares of Vedanta, IndusInd Bank, M&M, Maruti, Bajaj Auto, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel and RIL were among the top losers in the Sensex pack, falling up to 1.99 per cent.

On the other hand, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, PowerGrid, TechM, HUL, SBI and HDFC Bank rose up to 1.69 per cent.

According to experts, IMF’s downward revision of India’s economic outlook hit domestic investor sentiment.

The IMF on Tuesday projected a slower growth rate for India in 2019 and 2020, a downward revision of 0.3 per cent for both the years, saying its GDP will now grow at 7 per cent and 7.2 per cent respectively, reflecting a weaker-than expected outlook for domestic demand.

On a net basis, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 2,607.97 crore on Tuesday, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares to the tune of Rs 2,625.10 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Shanghai Composite Index, Hang Seng and Nikkei ended higher, while Kospi settled in the red. Bourses in Europe were also trading on a mixed note in their early sessions.

On the currency front, the Indian rupee depreciated marginally to 68.99 against the US dollar (intra-day).

Meanwhile, the global oil benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.22 per cent to USD 63.97 per barrel.