Nifty Gives Up 13,500 As Markets Break Record-Breaking Run

Domestic stock markets registered mild losses on Thursday, halting a rally that pushed the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex index above the 46,000 mark for the first time ever. The Sensex index fell 392.63 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 45,710.87 at the weakest level recorded in morning deals. The broader NSE Nifty 50 benchmark slid to as low as 13,399.30, down 129.8 points, or 0.96 per cent, from its previous close. Losses in banking, financial services and IT shares weighed on the markets.

1. The Sensex closed 143.62 points, or 0.31 per cent, lower at 45,959.88, following five consecutive days of gain, and the Nifty settled at 13,478.30, down 50.80 points, or 0.38 per cent, from its previous close.
2. UPL, Tata Motors, Indian Oil, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel, trading between 2.31 per cent and 13.86 per cent lower, were the worst hit among 43 laggards in the Nifty basket of 50 shares. On the other hand, Nestle, Maruti Suzuki and Titan, up 0.69-1.51 per cent each, were the top gainers in the index. 
3. Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Infosys were the biggest drags on Sensex. 
4. On Wednesday, both indices had risen more than 1 per cent to close at record highs, riding on optimism around COVID-19 vaccines and foreign fund inflows. 
5. Analysts awaited macroeconomic data for near-term cues. According to a poll by news agency Reuters, consumer inflation likely stood at 7.10 per cent in November, but remained above the Reserve Bank of India’s target amid high food and petrol prices. Official data is due on Monday.
6. Meanwhile, the country’s drug regulator said on Wednesday that it needed more data to make a decision on emergency authorisation for vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech.
7. Global markets eased from record highs on Thursday as stalled US stimulus talks and a selloff in tech stocks hurt investor sentiment.
8. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was last seen trading 0.30 per cent lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was also down 0.30 per cent.
9. A 1.90 per cent fall in Facebook shares drive a nearly 2 per cent drop in the technology stocks-heavy US benchmark Nasdaq Composite on Wednesday, after US regulators filed lawsuits alleging the company used its dominance to buy or crush rivals, harming competition.
10. British and European futures slipped marginally in Asia, with FTSE futures and EuroSTOXX 50 futures down 0.10 per cent. The S&P 500 futures were up 0.10 per cent.