Sensex Slips 200 Points, Nifty Hovers At 12,050; Energy, Metal Stocks Drag

The benchmark indices slipped to intra-day lows in the later afternoon on the back of weakness in metal and energy stocks. At 2.45 pm, the Sensex was quoting at 41085, lower by 175 points or 0.4 per cent and the Nifty was at 12051, down 61 points or 0.5 per cent. The broader markets were also witnessing selling pressure; BSE Midcap index had lost 0.8 per cent at 15,534 and BSE Smallcap index had shed 0.9 per cent at 14,547.

In the meantime, Moody's Investors Service on Monday revised its growth forecasts for India to 5.4 per cent for 2020 calendar year and 5.8 per cent for 2021, down from its previous projections of 6.6 per cent and 6.7 per cent. India's economy has decelerated rapidly over the last two years and economic recovery will likely be shallow, it said in the February update of global macro outlook.

In corporate news, Bharti Airtel has edged higher by 0.4 per cent to Rs 568 after the private sector telecom service provider paid Rs 10,000 crore to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) towards statutory dues. The payment to the government came after the telecom department began issuing orders to telecom companies to clear their dues immediately or face "necessary action".

The energy index was the top sectoral loser on the BSE, shedding 2.2 per cent at 13,770. Reliance Industries was dragging the energy index lower with losses of half a per cent at 1479. Among the energy stocks, ONGC, HPCL, BPCL and IOC had weakened between 1-3 per cent each.

The BSE Metal index was down 0.8 per cent, with select metal stocks such as Jindal Steel, Hindalco and JSW Steel losing up to 1.5 per cent each.

On the other hand, TCS, Titan and Nestle India bucked the weak trend with gains of 1-2 per cent each.

The market breadth was weak. Out of 2651 stocks traded on the BSE, there were 811 advancing stocks as against 1667 declines.