Sensex Ends 80 Points Lower, Nifty Flat At 10,848: Highlights
Domestic stock markets erased all of the day's gains in the second half of the session, dragged lower by selling in financial stocks. The S&P BSE Sensex - which climbed 174.25 points to an intraday high of 36,898.99 in morning deals - slumped as much as 357.11 points from that level, before settling at 36,644.42. The broader NSE Nifty benchmark ended nearly unchanged at 10,847.90, as gains in auto, metal, pharmaceuticals and energy shares were offset by losses in banking and financial services stocks. HDFC, ICICI Bank and TCS were the top drags on the Sensex.
Weakness in financial stocks came a day after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made it mandatory for commercial banks to link certain loans to the external benchmark rates from October 1, in a bid to allow faster transmission of reduction in key rates to consumers. Banks will have to link all new floating rate personal or retail loans and floating rate loans to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to external benchmarks, the central bank said.
