Sensex settles 300 points down after falling 450 points in intraday to 1-month low

Sensex and Nifty fell heavily for the second consecutive day to close lower after partially recovering in the late afternoon trade. BSE Sensex ended down points 296 points at 31,626.39 points and NSE Nifty settled 91 points lower at 9,872.6 points. The key equity indices extended last week’s losses and plummeted drastically today, the benchmark Sensex lost as much as 448 points to hit a day’s low of 31,474.56 points to a one-month low and broader Nifty 50 shed 148 points to hit the day’s low of 9,816.05 points in the intraday. The geopolitical tensions in North Korea and continuous FII (foreign institutional investors) outflows led to nervous moments ahead of derivatives expiry due on Thursday.

The stocks of heavyweight companies such as HDFC, HDFC Bank, ITC, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and Maruti Suzuki contributed the most to the Sensex decline. Collectively these six alone shaved off about 220 points out of the 296 point slump in the index. Shares of Adani Ports (down 3.53%), ITC (down 2.4%), Larsen & Toubro (down 2.06%), Lupin (down 2.03%), Tata Steel (down 1.95%), and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 1.85%) were the biggest loser on the Sensex today.

The concerns over Standard & Poor’s announcement late Thursday that it was downgrading China’s credit rating, citing rising debt levels, continued to weigh. S&P lowered its sovereign rating by one notch, to A+ from AA-, saying credit growth increased China’s economic and financial risks. However, there is no further blow from North Korea but worries still remain amid the market participants.North Korean leader Kim Jong Un retaliated by calling Trump “deranged” and saying he’ll “pay dearly” for his threats, while Kim’s foreign minister reportedly said the country might plan to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.

The Sensex today registered more losses by plunging nearly 450 points on across the board selling amid weak Asian cues after German Chancellor Angela Merkel won a fourth term with an uneasy coalition to form the next government.

Bombay Stock Exchange - BSE

National Stock Exchange of India Ltd (NSE)