Sensex Falls On Weak European Cues; Banking Stocks Rally

Business

oi-Sunil

By Sunil Fernandes

Updated: Monday, February 8, 2016, 15:33 [IST]

Benchmark indices ended the day lower, despite buying in beaten down banking and metal stocks failed to lift the markets.

The Sensex ended the day with losses of 329 points, while the Nifty down by 101 points in trade as European markets saw sustained selling pressure.

Heavyweight, banking stock State Bank of India gained a huge 4 per cent, along with another heavyweight banking stock ICICI Bank.

The move in large cap banking names was largely after the government hiked the import duty on steel products. The import duty move is likely to aid the steel sector, which is saddled with huge debt from banks.

Steel stocks themselves gained with shares like Tata Steel, Bhushan Steel and Jindal Steel among the big movers in trade.

Shares in Geometric shot up after the company reported better than expected results. The stock ended the day higher by 13 per cent.

IT stocks were subdued in trade after the crash seen in shares on the NASDAQ on Friday. Notable losers were HCL Tech, Infosys and TCS.

Shares in Sobha fell after the real estate developer reported a drop in net profits. Meanwhile, most of the Asian markets were closed for holidays. The Japanese Nikkei ended the day lower, while most of European markets were trading with losses.

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