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    Sensex sheds 151 pts, Nifty below 10,900; media stocks rally

    Synopsis

    On the Sensex heatmap, 15 scrips lost while 14 turned green, with one unchanged.

    Sensex-BCCL
    M&M, ONGC and Bajaj Finance were among the top Sensex decliners, sliding up to 5.31 per cent.
    New Delhi: Stocks showed no spine on Monday as key benchmarks Sensex and Nifty struggled to shake off worries arising out of a spreading global growth slowdown and bruising China-US tariff dispute.

    Throughout the day, the market was in negative zone, dragged down by auto, capital goods and oil and gas stocks.

    Heavy selling in Reliance Industries counter queered the pitch.

    While BSE barometer Sensex settled with a loss of 151 points at 36,395, the NSE Nifty ended below 10,900, down 55 points.

    On the Sensex heatmap, 15 scrips lost while 14 turned green, with one unchanged.

    Let's check out what else happened in today's market.

    Gainers & Losers
    M&M, ONGC and Bajaj Finance were among the top Sensex decliners, sliding up to 5.31 per cent. M&M lost big after it reported 11.44 per cent decline in standalone profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 1,076.81 crore on Friday for the third quarter ended December. However, Tata Steel, Power Grid and HCL Tech stood up to the selling pressure on scattered buying by investors.

    Stock action
    Apollo Hospitals and PC Jeweller faced investor heat as both tanked 10 per cent each, which weighed on sentiment.

    Minnows give up
    Things got tougher for broader indices as BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices plunged up to 1.5 per cent.

    Sectoral play
    Auto sector was at the centre of share selling as investors gave a thumbs down to dismal quarterly earnings from leading auto makers.

    Now, let's see what are the factors at work.
    • Trade pain point: Tensions between the US and China simmered even as a new round of trade talks began in Beijing on Monday. If the negotiations do not progress sufficiently by March 1, the US has said it intends to raise tariffs on $200 billion of imports from China to 25 per cent from 10 per cent, according to Reuters.

    • Mixed Asian shares: Asian shares looked for direction on Monday as investors were unable to overcome worries about global growth. Trading volumes stayed light.

    • Macros ahead: Investors were visibly cautious ahead of release of industrial production and inflation data due this week.

    Expert-take
    Selling pressure continued in the market despite a rebound in global market as investors turned risk averse due to upcoming election. Quarter results have not surprised investors while scope of downgrade in earnings further dampened sentiment. Global trade deal and risk of slowdown in growth continue to give caution while investors remain focused on tomorrow's CPI inflation and IIP data to get some direction
    - Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services

    Markets are currently struggling under global pressure, due to lingering US-China trade war and continuous fund outflow. On local front, earnings also failed to trigger the needed directional move. The underperformance of broader markets clearly indicates lack of appetite for risky bets. In such scenario, we advise preferring index majors over others and limiting leveraged trades
    - Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking





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    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

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    (What's moving Sensex and Nifty Track latest market news, stock tips and expert advice, on ETMarkets. Also, ETMarkets.com is now on Telegram. For fastest news alerts on financial markets, investment strategies and stocks alerts, subscribe to our Telegram feeds .)

    Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.

    Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the Economic Times ePaper Online.and Sensex Today.

    Top Trending Stocks: SBI Share Price, Axis Bank Share Price, HDFC Bank Share Price, Infosys Share Price, Wipro Share Price, NTPC Share Price

    ...more
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