Market Snaps 4-day Climb Ahead of Economic Survey, Budget

Mumbai: The Sensex on Monday logged its first drop in five sessions, slipping 33 points, after investors took profit and adopted a cautious line ahead of the Economic Survey and the Union budget amid weak global leads.

The Economic Survey is due to be released on Tuesday and the budget on Wednesday.

Investors across the globe were spooked after US President Donald Trump imposed immigration curbs that sparked criticism, adding to fears that his 'America First' policy may prove destabilising for the world. This led to a lower closing in Asia and a muted opening in Europe, traders said.

The 30-share barometer opened a touch lower and settled down 32.90 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 27,849.56.

The index had rallied 847.96 points in the past four sessions.

The 50-share NSE Nifty too dropped 8.50 points, or 0.10 per cent, at 8,632.75. Intra-day, it traded between 8,617.75 and 8,662.60.

"Pressure prevailed due to weak US Q4 GDP data which put global market volatile while cautiousness emerged in domestic market ahead of the budget day," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The uptrend in the previous four sessions was largely because of fresh foreign inflows, enthusiasm of domestic investors amid optimism on better-than-estimated earnings.

Tata Motors took the biggest hit, plunging 2.18 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (1.56 per cent).

ONGC, SBI, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, TCS, Coal India, HDFC Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, HUL, Wipro, Adani Ports and Axis Bank lost too.

The country's largest mortgage lender, HDFC Ltd, also ended 0.13 per cent down at Rs 1,368.90 despite a 12.80 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,728.66 crore for the third quarter ended December.

Aditya Birla group's Idea Cellular zoomed by more than 25 per cent after global telecom giant Vodafone today said it is in discussion with the company to merge its India mobile business.

Out of the 30, 19 Sensex stocks ended with losses, but 11 rose, keeping the fall in check.

Among gainers, Bharti Airtel, RIL, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Infosys, Dr Reddy's, Lupin, GAIL and L&T rose by up to 7.48 per cent.

It was a lacklustre trade at other Asian markets, with most being closed for a public holiday. Japan's Nikkei declined 0.51 per cent.

Elsewhere in Europe, shares weakened in early trade, with London's FTSE, Paris CAC 40 and Frankfurt all trading down.

Speaking sectorally, the BSE auto index got the hammering, down 0.88 per cent, followed by banking 0.76 per cent, PSU 0.69 per cent and power 0.58 per cent.

Broader markets painted a mixed picture. The mid-cap index firmed up 0.28 per cent while small-cap finished 0.32 per cent down.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) net purchased shares to the tune of Rs 211.77 crore on Friday, as per provisional data.

"Additionally, the week ahead will be data centric - Fed, BoE, BoJ are lined up with their monetary policy," added Nair.

As many as 1,558 stocks ended lower, 1,164 higher and 245 ruled steady, making the market breadth negative.

The total turnover on BSE amounted to Rs 2,675.60 crore, lower than Rs 3,479.67 crore registered during the previous trading session on last Friday.