Mkts drift lower on negative global cues

Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower in highly volatile trade on Thursday due to selling in banking, metal and energy counters amid a mixed trend in the global markets. Falling for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 193.70 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 62,428.54 even after a positive beginning. During the day, it fell 263.1 points or 0.42 per cent to 62,359.14. The NSE Nifty fell 46.65 points or 0.25 per cent to finish at 18,487.75.

“Despite challenges in the global economies, the domestic market displayed better than estimated Q4 earnings growth, along with 7.2 per cent GDP growth in FY23, adding buoyancy to the market during the week. However, today the market closed with a marginal negative bias in which banks witnessed heavy profit-booking. Investors turned cautious in anticipation of inflationary pressure in the US after raising the US debt ceiling,” said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

“Within the Indian market, Coal India witnessed a four per cent decline as the government set the Offer for Sale (OFS) floor price at Rs225 per share. This announcement might have influenced investor sentiment and contributed to the profit booking in the market,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.61 per cent and the midcap index advanced 0.11 per cent. Among the indices, bankex fell 0.82 per cent, metal declined 0.79 per cent, energy (0.65 per cent), financial services (0.41 per cent), telecommunication (0.27 per cent) and commodities (0.18 per cent). Realty jumped 1.19 per cent, healthcare (0.84 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.64 per cent), utilities (0.68 per cent) and IT (0.52 per cent).