Equity Indices Fall Amid Geopolitical Tensions, Metal Stocks Drag
Equity benchmark indices closed in the negative terrain on Tuesday as investors adopted a guarded stance due to escalating geopolitical tensions.
Incidents of firing were reported overnight on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh sector where Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off for over three months.
Several market experts also said that concerns over stock markets running ahead of economic realities have led investors to adopt a cautious approach.
At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 52 points or 0.14 per cent at 38,365 while the Nifty 50 was down by 38 points or 0.33 per cent at 11,317.
Except for Nifty IT which gained by 1.2 per cent, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with Nifty metal cracking by 3 per cent, pharma and PSU bank by 1.6 per cent each and realty by 1.7 per cent.
Among stocks, Bharti Infratel dropped by 8.1 per cent to Rs 212.20 per share while Bharti Airtel slipped by 3.5 per cent.
Metal majors Hindalco and Tata Steel were down by 3.9 per cent and 3.8 per cent respectively while Tata Motors skidded by 4.4 per cent. The other prominent losers were Axis Bank, Grasim, ONGC and Sun Pharma.
However, IT stocks showed gains with HCL Technologies moving up by 1.9 per cent, Infosys by 1.4 per cent, Wipro by 1 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 0.8 per cent.
Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hero MotoCorp and Maruti too traded with a positive bias.
Meanwhile, Asian shares and US stock futures regained some footing following a slight bounce in European markets.
Japan's Nikkei advanced by 0.8 per cent as revised data said the country had slumped into its worst post-war contraction with business spending taking a bigger hit from the coronavirus than initially estimated.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained by 0.14 per cent even as US President Donald Trump a day earlier voiced the idea of de-coupling the US and Chinese economies.
South Korea's Kospi was up by 0.74 per cent. US financial markets were shut on Monday for a public holiday.
(ANI)
