Sensex closes down over 300 points on last trading day of 2019; check key reasons

The equity benchmark Sensex on Tuesday fell over 300 points in the intraday trade tracking weak global cues as holiday week sees muted trade. The 30-share BSE index fell 304.26 points or 0.73 per cent to 41,253.74, and the broader NSE Nifty tumbled 87.40 points or 0.71 per cent to 12,168.45. In the last session, the 30-share gauge ended 55.30 points, or 0.45 per cent, lower at 41,558. The Nifty, however, closed 10.05 points, or 0.08 per cent, higher at 12,255.85. NTPC, Sun Pharma and ONGC were the major gainers in the Sensex pack, while Tech Mahindra Ltd, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries Ltd were the major laggards in the intraday trade today.

“We continue to maintain our cautious stance on the Indian markets in the near term, given the recent run up. The market participants would keep a close watch on Auto sales data to be announced tomorrow. Apart from this, movement in crude oil prices and currency would be actively tracked by the traders,” Ajit Mishra, VP – Research, Religare Broking said.

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“Markets witnessed profit booking ahead of the press conference from the FM. With yesterday’s close markets ended the CY19 on a positive note with gains of twelve percent. Going ahead the positive momentum is likely to continue in the year 2020 and we expect index to head higher towards our near term tgt of 12,400-12,450. Nifty has an immediate support zone near 12,100 zone and dips should be utilized to build long positions,” Amit Shah, Technical Research Analyst with Indiabulls Ventures said.

The foreign institutional investors on a net basis sold equities worth Rs 130.52 crore, while the domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 201.32 crore on Monday, the data available with the stock exchange showed. Meanwhile, the government is confident of continuing to attract huge FDI in 2020 as well. Despite a slowdown in the global economy, inflows of foreign investment into the country have not been impacted, news agency PTI reported citing Secretary Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) Guruprasad Mohapatra.