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Sensex, Nifty Fall For Fifth Day In A Row; Pharma Stocks Lead Declines
21 May 2018, 04:41 PM IST 
A selloff witnessed in pharma, metal, auto and realty shares dragged the key indices lower
- Thirty five stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index finished in the negative zone.
- Political situation in Karnataka clouded the outlook for general elections next year and left the markets uneasy, say analysts.
- The equity markets had started Monday's session see-sawing between gains and losses before the selloff in sectors such as pharma deepened.
- The Nifty Pharma - the NSE's sub-index of pharma stocks - dropped 2.8 per cent lower, its steepest one-day percentage decline since September 27, 2017. Among other pharma stocks, Divi's Laboratories fell 1.6 per cent, Lupin 1 per cent and GSK Pharma 0.9 per cent.
- Real estate stocks also slumped, with the Nifty Realty index ending 2 per cent lower. Indiabulls Real Estate plunged 10 per cent. Unitech declined 4.3 per cent.
- Metal stocks also declined. JSW Steel, Hindustan Zinc, Tata Steel and JSPL dropped between 2.4 per cent 3.2 per cent.
- "We have this continuing downward momentum from last week. Secondly, Karnataka elections is weighing on the markets as the outlook of the 2019 election is looking dicey," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities.
- BS Yeddyurappa quit as Chief Minister on Saturday, after just two days in office, as his Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) was unable to drum up the support of a majority of legislators in the state assembly.
- Gains in PSU banks however limited the downside. The Nifty PSU Bank settled 2.7 per cent higher. Bank of India, PNB, Union Bank of India and Canara Bank finished with gains up to 4.8 per cent. SBI settled 2.3 per cent higher. Global ratings agency Moody's Investors Service downgraded Punjab National Bank's rating citing the impact of recent fraud on its capital as well as weak internal controls. However, the outlook to the rating was retained as stable.
- UltraTech Cement shares closed 0.2 per cent lower, a day after the company announced a merger deal with Century Textiles and Industries.
(With agency inputs)