Market

Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty snap 4-day gaining streak to end in red; RIL, Nestle top losers

Updated : December 23, 2019 03:47 PM IST

A late bounce saw the benchmarks recover in the last half an hour of trade to end marginally in the negative

The BSE Sensex ended 39 points lower at 41,643 and the Nifty50 settled 9 points lower at 12,263

Yes Bank, Nestle India, Reliance Industries, Coal India and SBI led the losses on Nifty50

Indian shares ended flat but in red on Monday, snapping four-day gaining streak, dragged by energy and FMCG stocks. Losses in index heavyweights like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, SBI, ITC, and Nestle also pulled the indices lower. However, gains in auto and financial helped cap losses.

Meanwhile, Asian markets idled near 18-month highs as trading volumes weakened ahead of the Christmas holiday break, with investors taking profit on gains made earlier this month.

The BSE Sensex ended 39 points lower at 41,643 and the Nifty50 settled 9 points lower at 12,263. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap indices also fell 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent lower.

Zee, Vedanta, Dr Reddy's Maruti Suzuki, and Hero MotoCorp were the top gainers on the Nifty50 index, while Yes Bank, Nestle India, Reliance Industries, Coal India and SBI led the losses.

Among sectors, major selling was seen in PSU Bank, FMCG, energy, and realty indices. Nifty PSU Bank shed 1.3 percent for the day, while Nifty Energy was down 0.7 percent. Nifty FMCG also slipped 0.4 percent for the day and Nifty Realty was down 0.5 percent. Meanwhile, among gainers, Nifty Media advanced 0.7 percent and Nifty Auto added 0.6 percent during the day. Nifty IT and Nifty Fin Services were also up around 0.2 percent.

Yes Bank share price declined nearly 4 percent after reports suggested that European entities are showing interest in the beleaguered bank. According to a report, some entities which are showing interest in the bank have large exposure to Russia, while some investors own banks having exposure in Europe.

Globally, MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan hovered near its highest since June 2018, having risen 1.4 percent last week and more than 5 percent this month. For the final quarter of the year, it is up nearly 10 percent so far.