Sensex down 150 points, Nifty slips below 10,400

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The benchmark BSE Sensex drifted 150 points lower and the NSE Nifty slipped below the 10,400-mark in early deals today on selling in metal, PSU and realty counters amid weak global cues. Asian stocks declined following an overnight slide in US equities after President Donald Trump replaced his Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA Director Mike Pompeo, extending a shake-up of his administration, spurring concerns about a one-sided approach to international trade. The 30-share index dropped 166.17 points or 0.49 per cent to 33,690.61. The gauge had lost 61.16 points in the previous session. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell 37.90 points or 0.36 per cent to 10,388.95. Sectoral indices led by metal, PSU, realty, oil & gas, auto, power and bank stocks were trading in the negative zone, falling up to 0.87 per cent.

Banking shares such as SBI, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bank of India, Yes Bank, Andhra Bank and Canara Bank also declined up to 2.30 per cent. However, TCS, Infosys, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's, L&T and Asian Paints trading in the green, gaining up to 0.74 per cent. PNB stocks fell 4.23 per cent to Rs 93.85 after reports that the bank's exposure to alleged fraud may be over $2 billion. Shares of Gitanjali Gems cracked 4.90 per cent to Rs 13.60 after National Stock Exchange (NSE) levied penalty on the company for failure to file financial results for quarter-ended 31 December.

Brokers said that the sentiment remained negative on weak trend in other Asian markets following a drop in Wall Street as US President Donald Trump replaced his secretary of state, and plans to impose new tariffs on China. Meanwhile, on a net basis, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 1,613.39 crore while foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also bought shares worth Rs 7,028.42 crore yesterday, provisional data showed. In the Asian region, Japan's Nikkei fell 1.03 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.18 per cent in early trade. China's Shanghai Composite index too down 0.46 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.68 per cent lower in yesterday's trade.

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