Market ends in red fearing low GDP number for Sept quarter

Key equity benchmarks traded on a weak note throughout the day on Friday and ended the session in red as traders remained sidelined, ahead of the September quarter Gross Domestic Product (GDP) number slated to be released later in the day.

The day began on a negative note, as some cautiousness came with a report that India's economic growth is expected to have declined below 5 per cent in the second quarter of the financial year 2019-20 on the back of weak consumer demand, slowing factory activities and negative impacts of the prolonged monsoon.

India's economy grew at 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2019-20, the slowest pace in over six years. The market continued their weak run in the last leg of trade as traders took a note of the External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar’s statement that if India’s concerns are addressed by the RCEP grouping, the government may take a call on what needs to be done, otherwise the present stand will continue.

The BSE Sensex ended at 40,793.81, down by 336.36 points or 0.82 per cent after trading in a range of 40,664.18 and 41,143.22. The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.16 per cent while Small cap index was up by 0.47 per cent.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.54 per cent, Realty up by 0.90 per cent, Utilities up by 0.44 per cent, and Power was up by 0.40 per cent. Energy down by 1.46 per cent, Metal down by 1.30 per cent, Auto down by 1.15 per cent, Oil & Gas down by 0.97 per cent, and FMCG down by 0.85 per cent, were the top losing indices on BSE.

The few gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.28 per cent, HDFC Bank up by 0.70 per cent, and NTPC was up by 0.35 per cent. The top losers during the day included Yes Bank down by 2.50 per cent, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.37 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.12 per cent, and SBI was down by 2.03 per cent.