Indo-Pak tensions take toll on stock market; Sensex down 50 points

Reversing its initial recovery, the benchmark BSE Sensex slipped into the negative terrain in afternoon trade Thursday amid concerns over the tension between India and Pakistan and weak Asian cues. After bouncing over 180 points in early trade, the Sensex was trading 56.04 points, or 0.16 per cent, down at 35,849.39. The gauge has lost 308 points in the previous two sessions.

The 50-share Nifty also fell 16.80 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 10,789.85 after moving between 10,865.70 and 10,788.10 on alternate bouts of buying and selling. Investors adopted a cautious approach and kept their activity at a low ebb in the wake of tension between India and Pakistan, brokers said.

The market is also awaiting GDP numbers and fiscal deficit data scheduled for release later in the day. Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net of Rs 423.04 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases to the tune of Rs 66.81 crore Wednesday, provisional data showed.

Besides, a weak trend at other Asian markets as sluggish Chinese factory data and cautious comments from US trade representative dented some of the recent optimism over US-China trade relations, weighed on sentiments here. Major losers include TCS, Hero MotoCorp, Axis Bank, Bajaj Auto, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, Bharti Airtel, L&T, Infosys, ITC, Tata Steel, Bajaj Finance, HDFC, Yes Bank and HL Tech, losing up to 2.63 per cent.

However, ONGC, PowerGrid, Coal India, NTPC, Sun Pharma and RIL were trading higher and cushioned the fall. Sectoral indices, led by IT, auto, tech and consumer durables fell up to 0.79 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, Korea's Kospi fell 1.76 per cent, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.79 per cent, Straits Times shed 0.78 per cent and the Shanghai Composite Index slipped 0.43 per cent in pre-close trade.