Sensex, Nifty extend morning losses, these key factors drag equity indices today

A host of factors dragged the domestic equity market benchmarks Sensex and Nifty on Monday. The rising death toll from the coronavirus in China has raised concerns about the severity and its economic impact. Among other factors, the release of macroeconomic data, Delhi poll results and other global cues dampened the investor sentiment. This week will bring the balance corporate results for Q3, Elections results for Delhi assembly on Feb 11, Dec IIP and CPI for January on Feb 12, WPI for January on Feb 14, China Jan Inflation rate on Feb 10, US Jan inflation rate on Feb 13, US Jan retail sales on Feb 14 and Euro Dec Industrial production data on Feb 12, Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities had said.

Key factors from today’s trade-

Sensex slips below 41,000- The S&P BSE Sensex slipped below 41,000-mark and was trading 239 points or 0.58 per cent lower at 40,903 points, while the broader Nifty 50 index was ruling at 12,017 points, down 81 points or 0.67 per cent.

27 out of 30 stocks in red- As many as 27 stocks out of 30 Sensex stocks were trading in red. Tata Steel and M&M among top losers, down over 4 per cent each, followed by ONGC, IndusInd Bank and NTPC. On the other hand, HUL, Bajaj Finance and ICICI Bank gained the most on the index.

Metals, auto stocks under pressure- The Nifty Metal index was trading over 2 per cent lower weighed by Tata Steel, Vedanta, Coal India and NMDC. The Nifty Auto index also dropped 1.59 per cent, dragged by M&M, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors and Bharat Forge.

FII and DII data- Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) were buyers of domestic stocks to the tune of Rs 162 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net sellers to the tune of Rs 179 crore on Friday, as per the NSE data.

Asian stocks fall as death toll from coronavirus rises- Stocks fell on Monday as the death toll from a coronavirus outbreak surpassed the SARS epidemic. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.7 per cent. Japan’s Nikkei fell 0.8 per cent while South Korea’s KOSPI was down 1.4 per cent and Australian shares eased 0.5 per cent.

Macroeconomic data release- Apart from corporate earnings for December quarter and Delhi election results on February 11, December IIP and CPI for January will be out on February 12, and WPI for January is scheduled to release on February 14.