Sensex down 150 points, Nifty closes below 12,100; IndusInd Bank, Zee, Tata Steel gain

Image courtesy: Reuters

Mumbai: The Sensex on Thursday (February 20) closed 152.88 points down at 41,170.12, while the broader Nifty settled 45 points lower at 12,080.90. Major gainers on the Nifty were IndusInd Bank, Zee Entertainment, Tata Steel, and SBI, while Cipla, Asian Paints, HUL, TCS, and Tech Mahindra were among top losers.

About 1219 shares today advanced, 1257 shares declined, while 166 shares remain unchanged. Among sectoral indices, energy, FMCG, infra, pharma and IT witnessed selling, while metal and PSU bank saw buying.

During early hours on Thursday, equity benchmark indices fell flat with all sectoral parameters moving in a narrow range. At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was down by 48 points to 41,275 while the Nifty 50 dropped by 19 points at 12,107. Nifty financial service, FMCG and metal were in the red while other sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange gained with thin margins.

Among stocks, pharma major slipped by 1.17 per cent to Rs 442.25 per share while Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Hindalco, JSW Steel, and Vedanta traded with a negative bias. However, IndusInd Bank gained by 4.74 per cent at Rs 1,196.30 per share while Dr Reddy`s advanced by 2.25 per cent at Rs 3,352 apiece. Yes Bank, Axis Bank, Bharti Infratel and Tata Consultancy Service witnessed marginal gains.

Meanwhile, Asian markets traded flat with Japan`s Nikkei inching up by 0.19 per cent. But South Korea`s Kospi was lower by 0.68 per cent and Hong Kong`s Hang Seng was down by 0.81 per cent.

The People`s Bank of China announced a reduction in the lending benchmark rate in a bid to offset the economic impact of coronavirus. More than 2,100 people have died and governments around the world are trying to prevent it from becoming a global pandemic. 

(With Agency Inputs)