Sensex plunges 424 pts

The BSE Sensex plummeted over 424 points while the Nifty finished below the 11,000-mark on Friday, led by a sharp selloff in auto and metal stocks amid renewed concerns over the US-China trade conflict.

Investors preferred to book profits following robust gains over the previous few days, even as the risk appetite was tempered by valuation and macroeconomic concerns, traders said.

The 30-share Sensex cracked 424.61 points, or 1.15 per cent, to finish at 36,546.48. The broader NSE Nifty slumped 125.80 points, or 1.14 per cent to 10,943.60.

During the week, the Sensex gained 77.05 points, or 0.21 per cent, while the Nifty rose 49.95 points, or 0.45 per cent.

Heavy selling in metal and auto counters led to a sharp drop at the fag end of the session on Friday.

Tata Motors was the biggest loser on the Sensex, taking a knock of 17.93 per cent, after the auto major reported its biggest ever quarterly net loss of Rs 26,960.8 crore for the December quarter, hit by a one-time asset impairment in its struggling British arm Jaguar Land Rover.

Other laggards included Vedanta, Tata Steel, NTPC, ONGC, L&T, M&M, Coal India, Maruti, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ITC and HDFC, dropping up to 5.75 per cent.

Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp rose up to 0.95 per cent.

The BSE Metal index plunged 3.42 per cent, while the auto gauge shed 3.37 per cent.

Sectorally, FMCG, banking and pharma indices also ended in the red. Realty was the only gainer.

“Markets slid on renewed worries over global trade and profit booking after the solid performance in the last one week due to interim budget and RBI policy.

“A fall in interest rates and improving outlook for consumption oriented sectors after interim budget will provide support to the market,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 418.01 crore on Thursday, and domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 294.11 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

On the global front, fears of an economic slowdown resurfaced after US President Donald Trump said he does not expect to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping before the March 1 deadline in trade war negotiations between the two superpowers.

A top White House adviser on Thursday said Washington and Beijing were still a “sizeable distance” apart in the trade talks, and no date has been set for a meeting between the countries’ leaders.

Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.87 per cent lower on Thursday.

Elsewhere in Asia, Japan’s Nikkei cracked 2.19 per cent, while Korea’s Kospi dropped 1.20 per cent and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.16 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt’s DAX was down 0.10 per cent, while Paris CAC 40 rose 0.12 per cent in late morning deals. London’s FTSE was up 0.19 per cent.

The rupee, meanwhile, appreciated 32 paise against the US dollar to 71.13 intra-day.

The benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.28 per cent to USD 61.80 per barrel.