Equity indices volatile amid India-China border tension
Sep 08, 2020
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 8 : Equity benchmark indices were volatile during early hours on Tuesday due to enhanced level of geopolitical tensions.
According to reports, incidents of firing were reported overnight on the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh sector where Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a stand-off for over three months.
Market experts said concerns over stock markets running ahead of economic realities also led investors to adopt a cautious approach.
At 10:15 am, the BSE S&P Sensex was up by 116 points or 0.3 per cent at 38,533 while the Nifty 50 was up by 9 points or 0.08 per cent at 11,364.
Except for Nifty IT and pharma, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the red with thin margins.
Among stocks, Bharti Infratel dropped by 3.7 per cent to Rs 222.30 per cent, Bharti Airtel by 1.1 per cent, Nestle India and Tata Motors by 1.3 per cent each.
The other prominent losers were ONGC, Power Grid Corporation, Grasim, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and JSW Steel.
However, IT stocks showed some gains with Wipro moving up by 1.7 per cent to Rs 283.45 per share, Infosys by 1.4 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 1.3 per cent and HCL Technologies by 1.2 per cent.
Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, ICICI Bank and Bharat Petroleum Corporation too traded with a positive bias.
Meanwhile, Asian shares and US stock futures regained some footing following a slight bounce in European markets.
Japan's Nikkei advanced by 0.4 per cent as revised data said the country had slumped into its worst post-war contraction with business spending taking a bigger hit from the coronavirus than initially estimated.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained by 0.6 per cent even as US President Donald Trump a day earlier voiced the idea of de-coupling the US and Chinese economies.
That left MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan up by 0.37 per cent. US financial markets were shut on Monday for a public holiday.
