Sensex Down For 2nd Day, Ends 299 pts Lower; Nifty Below 19,700; ITC Sheds 4% – News18

Sensex Today: The S&P BSE Sensex swung between zones for a major part of the trading day, wherein the index touched a high of 66,809. However, aggressive selling pressure towards the fag end of the day saw the BSE benchmark slide to a low of 66,326, before settling with a loss of 299 points at 66,385.

The NSE Nifty 50 touched a high of 19,783, and then dipped to a low of 17,658. The NSE benchmark eventually ended 73 points lower at 19,672.

Index heavyweight ITC tumbled over per cent, after the company’s board gave its in-principle approval for demerge of the hotel business. The board also approved incorporation of a wholly-owned subsidiary – ITC Hotels Limited.

Among other Sensex 30 shares, Kotak Bank also declined nearly 4 per cent. Tech Mahindra, JSW Steel, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever were down 1 – 3 per cent. On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, PowerGrid Corporation, Bajaj Finserv and UltraTech Cement were up 1-2 per cent each.

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Though Friday saw a close below VWAP, we are inclined to attach more importance to how the 10D SMA stepped in to arrest the sharp falls. This encourages us to expect Nifty recouping all of Friday’s loss and aim for 20160. Alternatively, inability to float above 19770-840 region, or a direct fall past 19700 could be taken as signal towards more weakness, with first objective at 19460. An outright collapse is less expected though.”

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