Financials drove losses on the index, with the NSE index closing lower for the third straight session
New Delhi: Indian shares settled lower on Monday mirroring losses across the globe after an unexpected contraction in Chinese exports raised fears of a sharper global slowdown, but the blow was cushioned by gains in Infosys Ltd.
Financials drove losses on the index, with the NSE index closing lower for the third straight session.
The benchmark BSE Sensex closed the session 0.43 percent lower at 35,853.56, while the broader Nifty ended 0.53 percent down at 10,737.60.
Infosys, however, helped trim losses on the broader index, with shares finishing the day 2.6 percent higher after the IT major raised its revenue forecast and announced a buyback.
Shares of India’s Jet Airways jumped over 18 percent after a report that Chairman Naresh Goyal was likely to step down from the board of the embattled company.
Earlier, the BSE benchmark Sensex Monday dropped over 200 points tracking weakness in other Asian markets amid heavy selling by foreign investors. Market sentiment also turned cautious ahead of the release of key macroeconomic data. The 30-share index fell 219 points 35,790.81 in early trade. Similarly, the NSE Nifty shed 67 points to 10,727.
According to analysts, this week, stock market movement will be driven by announcement of macroeconomic data points and quarterly earnings by various companies, including bluechips RIL and Wipro. The government is scheduled to release consumer price index (CPI) data later in the day.
Market would also continue taking cues from the movement of rupee, crude oil and investment trend by foreign investors, traders said.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 687.20 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 123.17 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.
In morning session on Monday, the biggest losers in the Sensex pack included Axis Bank, L&T, Vedanta, HDFC, ITC and TCS, down between 1% and 2%.
Shares of Avenue Supermarts, which runs the D-Mart chain, fell over 8% after the company posted 2.1% rise in its net profit to Rs 257 crore for the December 2018 quarter.
On the other hand, Infosys was the biggest gainer, rising 3 per cent, after the company on Friday said it will buyback shares worth up to Rs 8,260 crore and offer shareholders a special dividend of Rs 4 per share as part of the company’s capital allocation policy.
Other gainers include Yes Bank, Sun Pharma and HUL.
Globally, elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 1.43%, Kospi fell 0.66% and Shanghai Composite Index was trading 0.56 per cent lower in early trade.
Japan’s Nikkei, however, gained 0.97 per cent.
On Wall Street, Dow Jones Industrial Average ended marginally lower at 23,995.95 points on Friday.
The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated against the US dollar to 70.77. The benchmark Brent crude futures dropped 0.94% to $59.91 per barrel.
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