Sensex ends lower on weak auto sales

Mumbai: Sensex and Nifty ended lower after the weak auto sales figures and surging oil prices dampened investor sentiments on Wednesday.

The Sensex closed 173.78 points or 0.45 per cent lower at 38,557.04 while the Nifty settled at 11,498.90, down by 57 points.

“Consolidation continued as weak auto sales have dimmed growth expectations while surge in oil prices further impacted the sentiment,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The focus remains on the earnings season where the preliminary subdued results in IT stocks have triggered gradual downgrade in earnings expectations, he added.

Meanwhile, as the higher surcharge on the super-rich, announced in the Budget, roiled the markets as it could affect foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the move in Parliament.

Central Board of Direct Taxation Chairman P.C. Mody, however, said that FPIs and alternative investment funds can opt for a corporate structure to avoid paying the additional surcharge.

Besides, investors reacted to the brewing trade tension between the US and India as US President Donald Trump, for the second time, on Tuesday said that India’s tariffs on American products was “no longer acceptable!” Shares of IndiGo closed over 10 per cent lower before declining as much as 17 per cent on the BSE as the dispute between its promoters came out in the open.

Airline co-promoter Rakesh Gangwal, in his letter to market regulator Securities and Exchan ge Board of India (Sebi) Chairman Ajay Tyagi and other top officials, lamented that IndiGo has started veering off from the core principles and values of governance and sought regulatory intervention from Sebi to resolve the issues.

Indo-Asian-News Service