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Sensex Down Over 100 Points, Nifty Near 12,000 As Markets Trim Losses

BSE Sensex Today: A selloff across sectors barring IT shares pulled the markets lower
BSE Sensex Today: A selloff across sectors barring IT shares pulled the markets lower
  1. At 2:24 pm, the Sensex traded 136.63 points - or 0.33 per cent - lower at 40,732.84 while the Nifty was down 53.90 points - or 0.45 per cent - at 11,999.05. 
  2. Market breadth favoured losses, with 830 stocks on the BSE trading higher against 1,484 moving lower. On the NSE, 645 stocks advanced while 1,126 declined.
  3. Thirty four stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index suffered losses. Top percentage losers were Eicher Motors, Coal India, Indian Oil, Larsen & Toubro and Infosys, trading between 1.84 per cent and 3.17 per cent lower. On the other hand, TCS, Yes Bank, Bharti Airtel, UltraTech Cement and Bajaj Auto - up between 0.73 per cent and 2.14 per cent - were among the Nifty gainers.
  4. Equities in other Asian markets suffered losses as fears resurfaced about escalation of tensions in the Middle East, after officials in Washington and Tehran said Iran fired missiles at Iraqi bases used by the US military. MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.45 per cent lower, while Japan's Nikkei 225 index was down 1.96 per cent.
  5. Fears of a disruption to oil supplies gripped markets after Iran, in the early hours of Wednesday, launched a missile attack on US-led forces in Iraq in retaliation for the US drone strike that killed an Iranian commander.
  6. Brent crude futures - the global benchmark for crude oil prices - soared to as much as $71.75 to their highest since mid-September 2019, and were last seen up 1.1 per cent at $69 per barrel.
  7. “Trading in early Asia session saw risk off bets being placed but since then sentiment has improved. Both sides are expected to retaliate, responding to the anger among masses at the loss of lives but a full blown war is unlikely,” said IFA Global, a forex advisory firm. 
  8. India imports about 80 per cent of its oil needs and a rise in crude prices could spike import bill and prices for essential commodities for the third biggest oil consumer.
  9. The government on Tuesday forecast an economic growth rate of 5 per cent for the current financial year, projecting the slowest pace of expansion in 11 years, which will likely prompt the finance minister to opt for extra fiscal stimulus when she presents the annual budget next month.
  10. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of workers affiliated to trade unions led a Bharat Bandh strike in parts of the country, disrupting transport and banking services in a protest against privatisation and the growing impact of an economic slowdown on jobs.