Markets trip on profit-booking, political turbulence, metals lose sheen

While the NDA government enjoys a comfortable majority in the lower house, the opposition-sponsored move underscores the rising political temperatures in the run up to the general elections next year, analysts said. 

The motion will be debated on Friday. 

The BSE 30-share Sensex, which soared to new intra-day record of 36,747.87 points in early session, nosedived in mid-afternoon trade after the no-confidence motion was moved in the Lok Sabha.

It finally ended at 36,373.44, down 146.52 points, or 0.40 per cent. The NSE Nifty slipped by 27.60 points, or 0.25 per cent to finish at 10,980.45.

Brokers said apart from political developments and profit-booking at record levels by participants, fresh weakness in the rupee and unabated foreign fund outflows hurt trading sentiment.

The Sensex swung about 427 points during the volatile session, with metal, realty, telecom and auto stocks coming under selling pressure.

Metal stocks were the session's worst performers, with Tata Steel emerging as the biggest loser among Sensex constituents with a fall of 5.22 per cent, reflecting weakness in global commodities prices.

LMEX, a gauge of six metals traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME), was trading close to its one-year low on China growth concerns.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net of Rs 673.99 crore yesterday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 840.06 crore, data released by the stock exchanges showed. 

"Market failed to maintain the initial positive momentum as government got the no-confidence motion, adding to investors' anxiety. Mid- and small-caps faced selling pressure due to profit booking after yesterday's rally, while the metal index was seen underperforming. 

"Market participants are likely to stay on the side-lines as the no-confidence motion will be taken up on Friday," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Other laggards in the Sensex pack included Vedanta 2.74 per cent, Axis Bank 2.57 per cent, HUL 2.37 per cent, Tata Motors 2.19 per cent, M&M 2.05 per cent, Power Grid 1.68 per cent, Bharti Airtel 1.59 per cent, Coal India 1.19 per cent and ICICI Bank 1 per cent.

However, ONGC rose 2.69 per cent, Asian Paints 0.95 per cent, Yes Bank 0.92 per cent, HDFC Ltd 0.91 per cent, Hero MotoCorp 0.63 per cent, Bajaj Auto 0.32 per cent and Sun Pharma 0.14 per cent.

Sector wise, the BSE metal index slumped 3.12 per cent, followed by realty 2.42 per cent, telecom 1.85 per cent, auto 1.36 per cent, power 1.04 per cent, FMCG 0.94 per cent, bankex 0.66 per cent, healthcare 0.59 per cent, infrastructure 0.54 per cent, teck 0.31 per cent, PSU 0.27 per cent, capital goods 0.24 per cent, consumer durables 0.15 and IT 0.12 per cent.

Oil & gas and energy ended the green, rising up to 1.07 per cent.

Selling pressure also gathered momentum in the broader markets, with the BSE mid-cap index falling 1.27 per cent and the small-cap gauge losing 0.95 per cent.

Asian shares ended mixed, tracking overnight gains in the US following upbeat remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.23 per cent, Shanghai Composite Index lost 0.39 per cent, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.43 per cent. 

Europe's main stock markets rose at the open. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index climbed 0.53 per cent, while Frankfurt's DAX 30 gained 0.86 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 rose 0.52 per cent.

US stocks closed higher yesterday, extending a recent upswing after Fed's Powell indicated the US central bank would not move too quickly in changing monetary policy and would be flexible in the face of changing conditions.