Sensex sheds 215 points, Nifty holds 11,900; Eicher Motors, Tata Steel major gainers

Equity markets faced significant losses on Friday (November 22) as buying was seen in the energy and metal space ahead of the weekend. The Sensex was down 215.76 points or 0.53% at 40359.41 at the close, while Nifty was down 54 points or 0.45% at 11914.40. About 1220 shares have advanced, 1306 shares declined, and 184 shares are unchanged. 

Among major gainer on the Nifty were Eicher Motors, Tata Steel, Zee Entertainment, JSW Steel and NTPC, while Bharti Infratel, Infosys, Asian Paints, TCS and UPL remained major losers. 

During early hours on Friday, equity benchmark indices were in the negative terrain amid persistent global concerns over the US-China trade deal. At 9.38 am, the BSE Sensex traded at 40,530.81, lower by 44.36 points or 0.11 per cent from the previous close of 40,575.17 points, while the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 11,948.95, lower by 19.45 points or 0.16 per cent from its previous close.

Sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were mixed with Nifty IT dropping by 2.1 per cent. Software major Infosys tumbled by 2.78 per cent to Rs 693.40 per share while Wipro and Tech Mahindra were down by 1.9 per cent each, HCL Technologies by 1.8 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 1.7 per cent.

The other losers were Bharti Infratel, Bharti Airtel, Cipla, UPL and Titan. However, NTPC gained by 2.6 per cent at Rs 118.35 per share after Morgan Stanley upgraded the power utility major to `overweight` from `equal weight` earlier with a target price of Rs 152.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries also added gains of 1.7 per cent while the other gainers included Power Grid Corporation, Zee Entertainment, Sun Pharma, ITC, Vedanta and Tata Steel.

On global front, Asian equities posted mild gains amid persistent worries over the status of trade negotiations between China and the United States. 

MSCI`s broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan climbed by 0.12 per cent on worries that the US legislation on Hong Kong threatens to undermine trade talks between the world`s two largest economies.