Sensex logs this year's biggest fall; ITC slumps 13%

Retreating from its record high hit

in the previous session, the BSE Sensex today sank about 364

points to post its biggest single-day plunge in eight months,

dragged by FMCG giant ITC whose shares fell nearly 13 per cent

due to increased levies on cigarettes.

The NSE Nifty also cracked about 89 points to slip below

the psychological 9,900-mark.

Cigarette major ITC emerged as the worst performer after

its stock dived 12.63 per cent to Rs 284.60 following the GST

Council's decision to hike cess on cigarettes by 48.50 paise

to 79.20 paise per stick.

Other cigarette stocks were Godfrey Phillips and VST

Industries also tanked by up to 7.83 per cent.

The market sentiment was also impacted by mixed global

cues as setbacks for a healthcare overhaul in the US raised

doubts over prospects for a range of reforms backed by

President Donald Trump.

"GST cess on cigarettes dented Nifty's surge, while

global markets and the uncertainties prevailing around the

earnings season kept the domestic investors cautious today.

However, strength in rupee and recovery in the PSU bank stocks

amidst NPA resolution hopes, shall keep 10k aspirations

alive," Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial

Services Ltd, said.

The 30-share Sensex, after opening lower at 31,775.54,

reached an intra-day high of 31,911.61. The index, however,

slipped as the day progressed and touched a low of 31,626.44

during the day. It finally settled at 31,710.99, down 363.79

points, or 1.13 per cent, from yesterday's close.

This is the Sensex's biggest single day fall since

November 21 when it had lost 385.10 points.

The index had closed at record high of 32,074.78 points

after scaling all-time intra-day high of 32,131.92 points in

yesterday's trade.

The Nifty opened lower today at 9,832.70. After touching

an intra-day high of 9,885.35, the index headed south to touch

a low of 9,792.05, before finally settling at 9,827.15, down

by 88.80 points, or 0.90 per cent.

Besides cigarette makers, other laggards were Reliance

Industries, SBI, Power Grid, HDFC Ltd, NTPC, ICICI Bank,

Airtel, Kotak Bank and M&M, falling up to 2.03 per cent.

Among the gainers, Asian Paint led the Sensex pack by

climbing 1.82 per cent, followed by Sun Pharma 1.18 per cent,

Axis Bank 1.18 per cent, ONGC 1.06 per cent, Hero MotoCorp

0.83 per cent, Dr Reddy's 0.83 per cent and Tata Steel 0.71

per cent.

Share of cement maker ACC continued its upward journey

and gathered another 0.49 per cent to Rs 1,759.80 after the

company yesterday reported a 32.57 per cent increase in its

consolidated net profit at Rs 326.23 crore for the second

quarter ended June 30.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought

shares worth a net Rs 328.61 crore, while domestic

institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares worth a net

Rs 447.14 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Sectorally, the BSE FMCG index suffered the most by

dropping 6.12 per cent followed by realty 1.10 per cent,

oil & gas 0.79 per cent, consumer durables 0.66 per cent,

power 0.60 per cent and PSU 0.33 per cent.

However, IT index rose 0.24 per cent, auto 0.20 per cent,

healthcare 0.18 per cent and teck 0.17 per cent.

In tandem with overall trends, the broader markets too

succumbed to profit-booking by investors at record levels,

pulling down the mid-cap index by 0.60 per cent and small-cap

index by 0.58 per cent.

Overseas, European stocks were trading lower as oil and

financial stocks declined. Key indices like France and Germany

dropped by 0.24 per cent to 0.55 per cent while UK's FTSE was

quoted higher by 0.06 per cent.

In Asian markets, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.59 per cent,

while Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.35 per cent and Hong

Kong's Hang Seng up 0.21 per cent.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)