Stock Market News: Domestic stock markets closed with a decline on Monday due to selling in oil and gas and IT shares, continuous withdrawal of foreign capital and weak business environment at the end of the year. BSE’s 30-share benchmark index Sensex remained in loss for the fourth consecutive trading session and closed at 84,695.54 points, down 345.91 points or 0.41 per cent. During trading, the Sensex at one time fell by 403.59 points and slipped to 84,637.86 points. At the same time, NSE’s Nifty 50 remained under pressure for the third day and fell by 100.20 points or 0.38 percent and once again closed at 25,942.10 points, below the important level of 26,000.
Among Sensex companies, Adani Ports shares recorded the biggest decline of 2.22 percent. Apart from this, shares of HCL Tech, Power Grid, Trent, Bharat Electronics and Bharti Airtel also declined between 1 to 2 percent. Shares of Reliance Industries, the country’s largest company in terms of market capitalization, also slipped by 0.88 percent. News related to the government’s demand of $300 billion compensation from Reliance and its partner BP in the KG-D6 gas dispute also put pressure on the stock.
However, shares of Tata Steel gained 1.83 percent, while shares of Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever and Eternal also closed with gains. There was an atmosphere of weakness in the broader market also. BSE Smallcap index closed 0.58 percent lower and Midcap index closed 0.45 percent lower.
Talking about sector-wise performance, there was a rise of 0.91 percent in utility index and 0.86 percent rise in electricity segment. Apart from this, IT, Focus IT, Realty and Capital Products segments also closed with gains.
Market experts say that at present there is no strong catalyst visible for the market to rise. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said that most of the investors are in holiday mood, due to which the market is likely to remain in a limited range in the near term. Meanwhile, Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President, Religare Broking, said that due to global cues and news related to selected stocks, investors are preferring selective investments instead of making extensive bets.
A mixed trend was seen in Asian markets. South Korea’s Kospi index rose more than two percent, China’s Shanghai Composite closed with slight gains, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were in the loss. European markets also had a weak trend in afternoon trading, while American markets closed almost stable on Friday.
According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 317.56 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,772.56 crore. Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 1.70 percent to $61.67 per barrel. Earlier on Friday also both Sensex and Nifty had closed with a decline.
