Sensex, Nifty End Lower Amid Indo-Pak Tensions

Investor sentiment took a beating after Pakistani fighter jets violated Indian airspace in Jammu and Kashmir.

File Image used for representation only.

(Photo: Reuters)

The benchmark BSE Sensex surrendered early gains on Wednesday, 27 February, to end in the negative terrain after a 600-point swing amid escalating cross-border tension between India and Pakistan.

Investor sentiment took a beating after Pakistani fighter jets on Wednesday violated Indian airspace in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch and Nowshera sectors, experts said.

After opening on a positive note, the 30-share Sensex swung over 600 points as it turned volatile triggered by across-the-market selling by participants, finally settling 68.28 points, or 0.19 percent, lower at 35,905.43. The gauge had lost 239.67 points on Tuesday, 26 February.

In similar movement, the 50-share Nifty ended 28.65 points, or 0.26 percent, lower to 10,806.65. Intra-day, it moved between 10,939.70 and 10,751.20.

"Indian market ended the day in the red after a volatile session as tension between India Pakistan escalated further," said Hemang Jani, Head-Advisory, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

One can expect the market to be volatile for the next few days as the political environment comes under pressure. Investors will remain cautious and look for clarity on the cross-border tension, he said, adding that there is need to understand that the fundamentals of the Indian market continues to remain strong.

"Inflation has remained tepid and globally we continue to be a preferred investment destination amongst emerging markets," he said.

Pakistan on Wednesday claimed that it shot down two Indian military aircraft over Pakistani airspace and arrested one of the pilots.

Later in the day, India's External Affairs Ministry said Pakistan has used its Air Force to target military installations in India in response to Indian counter-terrorism operations but their attempts were foiled successfully, though one Indian pilot is "missing in action".

The move came after the Indian Air Force on Tuesday struck Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM) biggest camp in Pakistan in a major “preemptive” action, killing a large number of terrorists and trainers of the Pak-based terror group preparing to carry out suicide attacks in India.

Fears that foreign institutional investors (FIIs), who have been pumping sizeable funds into the Indian bourses in the past few sessions, may slow down their activity, too, cast a shadow over domestic equities, experts said.

On Tuesday, domestic institutional investors sold equities to the tune of Rs 720.27 crore, while Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,674.17 crore, provisional data showed.  

In the Sensex kitty on Wednesday, Tata Motors emerged as the top loser, falling 3.01 percent, followed by Vedanta shedding 2.92 percent.

Other laggards include HUL, Kotak Bank, NTPC, Infosys, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank, HDFC, IndusInd Bank and PowerGrid, falling up to 1.77 percent.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto, L&T, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, TCS, M&M, Maruti Suzuki, Coal India, SBI, ITC, Tata Steel, ONGC, HCL Tech, RIL and Asian Paints, ended up to 2.43 percent higher.

Sector-wise, the BSE consumer durables index emerged worst performer by falling 0.70 percent, followed by power 0.45 percent, bankex 0.44 percent, metal 0.42 percent, teck 0.38 percent, FMCG 0.35, IT 0.30 percent and oil & gas 0.17 percent.

While, capital goods index topped the gainers list by rising 1.13 percent. Healthcare, auto, infrastructure, realty and PSU indices, too, ended higher with gains up to 0.31 percent.

Outperforming benchmarks, the broader markets displayed a better trend with the mid-cap index rising 0.40 percent and small-cap index gaining 0.17 percent.

The rupee, meanwhile, depreciated 25 paise to 71.32 after touching a low of 71.49 against the dollar (intra-day).

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.05 percent, Singapore’s Straits Times down 0.36 percent, Taiwan index fell 0.02 percent. However, Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.42 percent and Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.50 percent.

In the euro zone, Frankfurt's DAX dropped 0.72 percent, Paris CAC 40 shed 0.32 percent in their early session. London's FTSE too fell 0.81 percent.