MUMBAI: Benchmark indices entered Samvat 2074 on a negative note with the Sensex closing 194 points down and Nifty50 settling below its crucial 10,150-mark in a special Muhurat trading session on Thursday.The special trading session that lasted for about an hour was heavily influenced by weak global cues.
On Thursday, most global markets were trading lower after data showed that China’s quarterly growth slowed slightly, though it was in line with expectations.
A weak trend at the European stock markets on Spain’s escalating political crisis also fuelled selling towards the fag-end at the domestic bourses here, brokers added.
The laggards in the Muhurat session were banking, metal, PSU, infrastructure, power, oil & gas, auto, consumer durables, healthcare, realty, FMCG and IT sectors.
The broader NSE Nifty, too, dipped below the 10,200-mark in the special one-hour Muhurat session.
During Samvat 2073, the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty 50 had hit their all-time highs and gained 16 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively.
On Thursday, the BSE Sensex opened higher at 32,656.75 and advanced to a high of 32,663.06 on token buying activity as investors and funds opened their new accounts on the first session of Samvat 2074.
However, higher levels could not be sustained due to sudden sell-off by participants and the index slipped to 32,319.37, before settling 194.39 points, or 0.60 per cent down at 32,389.96.The gauge had lost 49.29 points in the previous two sessions.On similar lines, the broad-based NSE Nifty index, after shuttling between 10,211.95 and 10,123.35, ended 64.30 points, or 0.63 per cent lower at 10,146.55.
Gold loses sheen
Gold prices fell by Rs 250 to Rs 30,750 per 10 grams in special ‘Diwali Muhurat’ trading at the bullion market on Thursday despite some token buying by jewellers. Silver followed suit and cracked below the Rs 41,000-mark by falling Rs 200 to Rs 40,800 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units and coin makers.The slide in gold prices was attributed to absence of worthwhile activity as jewellers and retailers made token purchases on the auspicious occasion of ‘Diwali’ and beginning of Hindu Samvat year 2074.