A Supreme Court order on Rafale fighter jets that India is buying from French aircraft maker Dassault bombed Indian markets on Wednesday with the benchmark indices shedding the gains over the past week. The market was moving sideways in the first half of the session but slumped to the day's lows once the court ruling that some documents that were considered stolen from the Ministry of Defence could be examined in the Rafale case in a blow to the government stand. The India VIX volatility hit raced up more than 4 per cent with the first phase of polling set for Thursday.
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex closed at 38,585 points, shedding about 353 points or 0.91 per cent. Sensex had hit the day's high of 38,950 points before tanking to the low of 38,543. The broader 50-share National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty lost about 87 points to close at 11,584, a fall of about 0.75 per cent, after hitting a high of 11,679 and a bouncing off a low of 11,572 points.
A clean sheet from the top court could have been a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seeking re-election for a second term in the general election set to begin tomorrow. Opposition Congress party president Rahul Gandhi-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) went on the offensive right after the verdict, claiming it was proof of wrongdoing on the part of the Prime Minister's Office in helping billionaire businessman Anil Ambani's defence company, which is the offset partner for the deal.
Almost all sectoral indices closed https://www.ibtimes.co.in/markets-offer-bullish-welcome-fy20-sensex-sets-record-high-39028-points-795056in the red except Nifty Realty, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Auto. Nifty Realty built up a 1.13 per cent rise to close at 276 points on the foundations of a 10.58 per cent rise in the value of India Bulls, which closed at 119 and 4.19 per cent increase in Oberoi Realty that closed at 564. Nifty Pharma's 0.80 per cent rise to close at 9,407was eased by Cipla, which rose 2.72 per cent to close at 546, and Biocon, which increased 1.57 per cent to close at 628. Nifty Auto ended 0.25 per cent up at 8,644, revved up by movement in Tata Motors' 4.81 per cent race to hit 215 and Amara Raja Batteries' 1.35 per cent increase to reach 684.
Realty major DLF sank 3 per cent on Singapore government's announcement of shedding its holding in the company, despite the general rise in the sectoral index. HDFC Bank's near 2.2 per cent fall dragged down Nifty Bank 1.03 per cent to 29,803 points. The premier new-gen private bank closed the day at 2,236, bouncing off a low of 2,231 after hitting a high of 2,284.
With FY19 Q4 earnings set to unfold with IT majors Infosys and TCS unveiling their results first, the market was expected to trade sideways with the first phase of election on Thursday. The perception of strong results for IT majors had ratcheted up their stocks in the past few days and a correction was expected. Nifty IT lost 0.76 per cent to close at 15,999 points, dragged down by. Infosys (Infy) that shed 1.02 per cent to close at 752 and TCS that lost 2.29 per cent to close at 2,043. The best performers of the IT lost were Infibeam Avenues Limited that gained more than 10 per cent to reach 45.70 and Wipro that gained 2.72 per cent to reach 281 on the back a share buy-back move.
