Mumbai Sep 25 (IANS) Negative global cues on the back of prevailing geo-political tensions coupled with heavy selling pressure in index heavyweights like Adani Ports Tata Steel and Larsen & Toubro dragged the key Indian equities lower for the fifth consecutive trade session on Monday.
According to market observers investors remained cautious about the government s plans for a stimulus programme which might lead to fiscal deficit.
At 12.30 p.m. the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) traded at 9 867 points -- down 97.40 points or 0.98 per cent.
The 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE which opened at 31986.40 points traded at 31621.10 points -- down 301.34 points or 0.94 per cent from its previous close at 31922.44 points.
The Sensex has so far touched a high of 32016.52 points and a low of 31573.32 points during intra-day trade.
The BSE market breadth was bearish -- with 1 958 declines and 432 advances.
"The benchmark indices extended losses on Monday with the Nifty50 breaching its crucial 9 850 mark as investors turned jittery as they expect government to tinker with its fiscal deficit target for FY18 by announcing an economic stimulus to revive the economy " Dhruv Desai Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls told IANS.
"Traders said apart from continuous foreign funds outflows selling by retail investors amid lingering North Korea tensions led to a further drop in the Sensex. Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth a net Rs 1 241.73 crore on Friday showed provisional data released by the stock exchanges " added Desai.
On Friday the benchmark indices witnessed the steepest fall since November 2016 on the back of escalating geo-political tensions between North Korea and the US a weak rupee and heavy selling pressure in capital goods metal and banking stocks.
The Nifty50 slipped below the psychologically important 10 000 points mark to close at 9 964.40 points while the Sensex plunged by 447.60 points or 1.38 per cent to end below its psychologically important 32 000 points-level at 31 922.44 points.
--IANS
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