Benchmark indices snapped two days of gain and inched lower on Thursday as investors reassessed the scope of the coronavirus outbreak after China's Hubei province reported a record rise in the death toll. A surprise drop in industrial output for December and a rise in January inflation to a six-year high also dampened sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex dipped 106 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 41,460 levels. IndusInd Bank (down 3.5 per cent), Tata Steel (down nearly 2 per cent), and ONGC (down around 2 per cent) were the top laggards in the Sensex pack. On the other hand, Titan (up over 2 per cent), SBI (up over 2 per cent) and Infosys (up around 1.5 per cent) gained the most.
The broader Nifty50 index gave up the 12,200 mark to settle at 12,175, down 27 points, or 0.22 per cent.
Sectorally, Nifty Private Bank index fell around 1.4 per cent to 17,083 levels. Nifty Bank slid 0.8 per cent to 31,230 points. On the upside, pharma and IT stocks advanced the most.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap slipped 23 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 15,766 and the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,727, down 0.03 per cent.
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In broader Asian markets, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was trading flat. China’s Hubei province reported 242 new deaths and 14,840 new cases as of Wednesday.
Oil prices were mixed on Thursday as concerns about falling demand caused by travel restrictions tied to the coronavirus outbreak in China, the world’s biggest oil importer, outweighed expectations of supply cuts from major producers.
Brent crude fell 6 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $55.73 per barrel at 0735 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 5 cents, or 0.1 per cent, to $51.22 a barrel. Brent rose 3.2 per cent on Wednesday while WTI gained 2.5 per cent as a slowdown in new Chinese coronavirus cases boosted expectations of a demand recovery.
(With inputs from Reuters)