A weak trading sentiment across the globe, and concerns over infrastructure output data for November -- due later in the day -- pushed investors towards profit-booking on the last trading day of calendar year 2019. Information Technology (IT) stocks dragged indices lower on the back of a stronger rupee, coupled with decline in automobile counters. That apart, heavyweight private banking stocks, including ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, put pressure on the indices.
The S&P BSE Sensex settled at 41,253.74 level, down 304.26 points or 0.73 per cent, with 24 of the 30 constituents on the index settling in the negative territory. Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Industries, and Hero MotoCorp were the top losers today, while NTPC, ONGC, Sun Pharma, and Power Grid ended as the top gainers.
At close, the S&P BSE India Infrastructure index was up 0.8 per cent, after finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced plan to provide Rs 102 lakh crore infra-push over the next 5 years. KNR Constructions, IRB Developers, Gujarat Pipavav Ports, and PFC rallied up to 6 per cent.
READ MORE On the NSE, the broader Nifty50 index held the 12,150-mark to close at 12,168.45-level, down 87.4 points or 0.71 per cent. On the sectoral front, all the indices, barring Nifty Realty and Metal indices, slipped in the trade today. Nifty IT and Auto indices gave up 0.8 per cent each, while Nifty Realty index gained 0.7 per cent.
In the broader markets, the small-cap index outperformed the headline indices. The S&P BSE small-cap index ended 0.37 per cent higher at 13,699.37 level, as against a 0.03 per cent decline in the S&P BSE mid-cap index, which settled at 14,967.83.
MARKETS IN 2019
The year 2019 saw benchmark indices scale fresh lifetime highs amid volatility. Trade war concerns, tax proposals for India Inc and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), the overall slowdown in the economy, rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India were some of the key factors that guided markets through 2019.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex advanced 14.6 per cent in CY19, while the Nifty50 and Nifty Bank indices added 12.2 and 18.5 per cent, respectively. However, the BSE Midcap and SmallCap indices have slipped 3 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively, thus giving a negative return for the second year in a row.
GLOBAL CUES
In a shortened session ahead of the New Year’s Eve celebrations, the pan-European STOXX 600 index shed 0.3 per cent. French, British, and Spanish stocks lost between 0.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent, while Frankfurt and Milan bourses were shut for the year-end holidays.
Asian shares slipped on the last trading day of the decade.
Early in the Asian trading session, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.39 per cent. Australian shares were 1.69 per cent lower and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.32 per cent.
(With inputs from Reuters)
 "MARKET WRAP: Indices end last day of CY19 in the red, Sensex slips 304 pts")
