Market witnesses profit booking, Sensex at 40,239.88

In Tuesday’s trading session, the Indian equity benchmarks traded under pressure and settled for the day with losses of more than half a per cent, owning to profit booking by investors. Key indices made a cautious start and traded slightly in red, following a weak global cues amid uncertainty over a trade deal between the US and China.

The BSE Sensex ended 247.55 points lower at 40,239.88 and the NSE Nifty closed at 11,856.80, 80.70 points lower from the previous close. No sectoral indices ended in positive in today’s trading session. The biggest losing index was BSE Utilities, which ended 2.16 per cent lower from previous close and was followed by BSE Power, BSE Oil & Gas, and BSE Metal, which ended 1.83 per cent, 1.73 per cent, and 1.38 per cent lower, respectively.

The biggest gainer in today’s trading session was Bajaj Finance (up by 1.06 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (1.05 per cent) and HDFC Bank (up by 0.55 per cent). On the other hand, the biggest loser in today's trading session was Yes Bank which tanked nearly 10 per cent due to overhang on fundraising plan.

Most of the auto stocks closed in negative terrain, as data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) shows that domestic passenger vehicle sales slipped 0.84 per cent to 2,63,773 units in November from 2,66,000 units a year ago. Domestic car sales were down 10.83 per cent to 1,60,306 units as against 1,79,783 units in November 2018.

In equity segment, FII was the net buyers in today’s trading session. Gross buying from FIIs was of Rs. 4,448.71 crores whereas gross selling was of Rs. 3,715.34 crores.

On the global front, the Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday, on a muted note as investors refrained from making big bets ahead of key central bank meetings and the rapidly approaching December 15 deadline for more US tariffs on Chinese imports.