Sensex extends losses for second day, 372 points down on weak global cues

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 17 : The key indices of domestic markets made losses as profit-booking took place, extending the decline for the second consecutive day.
Amid weak global cues, some investors took the hint over US debt ceiling talks having not seen a breakthrough so far.
BSE 30-share Sensex went down 372 points and settled at 61,560.64 while NSE Nifty 50 lost 98 points to end at 61,560.64.
Kotak Bank, Asian Paints, TCS, HCL Tech, Infosys, and Tata Steel were the top laggards whereas IndusInd Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, and M&M closed higher.
Nifty Financial Services, Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty Realty were the top drags among sectoral indices.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng went down 417 points, Japan's Nikkei gained 250 points, Thailand Set lost 17 points and China's Shanghai dropped 6 points, Philippine Stock Exchange gained 46 points.
In the US markets, Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 INDEX were trading in the green and Dow Jones lost 336 points.
In the European markets, Amsterdam Exchange, BEL, CAC, Deutsche Borse were trading in the positive territory, while FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 were trading in the red.
The US debt ceiling talks on Tuesday did not bear any fruit.
US President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy held an hour of talks to avoid a potential US debt default. When the meeting ended, the Republican leader said that the two sides remained far apart on lifting the debt ceiling. However, McCarthy also said a deal was possible by the end of the week.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said that domestic investors remained cautious in response to weak global sentiments as the US market grappled with recession concerns led by recent economic data indicating a slowdown.
The rupee fell 13 paise to close at 82.38 against the US currency on Wednesday. With the negative trend in domestic equities, the local currency was weighed down by the strength of the greenback in the overseas market.
Brent Crude traded near the USD 75 per barrel mark. Crude oil prices were steady in the trade amid concerns over demand and a tight supply outlook.
Adani Ports shares went down 0.35 per cent to Rs 684.60 apiece on Wednesday. The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted an extension of time for three months to the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to conduct a probe into Hindenburg report concerning the Adani Group.
Reliance Industries shares were down 0.48 per cent to Rs 2,442 apiece.
Brokerage Berstein has assigned "Outperform" rating on Reliance Industries (RIL) and noted Rs 3,2100 as price target for the company.
Accordingly, the brokerage also said Reliance Jio under Jio Platforms, one of the subsidiaries of RIL, is the undisputed scale player in Indian telecom sector since its launch in September 2016, acquiring over 100 million customers in less than a year.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head, Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services said that after witnessing, a smart move in the last couple of days, "the market is witnessing profit-booking, especially in heavyweights from higher levels. Global cues have remained mixed as US debt ceiling negotiations are ongoing, keeping investors cautious".
"On the domestic front, a healthy result season and consistent foreign institutional investor (FII) buying have been providing support to the market. The overall trend remains positive, however, some consolidation may not be ruled out given the sharp-up move in the last few weeks," he said.