New Delhi [India], May 20 : Indian stock indices slumped for the third straight session, possibly due to continued profit booking, while investors awaited further updates on India-US trade deal negotiations.
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal had "good discussions" with US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, towards expediting the first tranche of India-US Bilateral Trade Agreement in his ongoing visit to the US.
Sensex closed at 81,191.51 points, down 867.91 points or 1.06 per cent, while Nifty closed at 24,684.85 points, down 260.60 points or 1.04 per cent. All the sectoral indices were deep in the red, with auto, FMCG, media, pharma slumping the most. Nifty India Defence slumped 2.4 per cent. Gold, a key indicator of financial sector, was trading at USD 3,238.50 per ounce, up USD 5.00 or 0.15 per cent.
Sensex is now some 4,000 points below its all-time high of 85,978 points.
"Among Sectors, all the major sectoral indices registered intraday profit booking at higher levels but Defense, Auto indices lost the most shed over 2 percent. Technically, after a positive open market consistently witnessing selling pressure at higher levels," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said, "With the lack of major positive triggers and prevailing uncertainty over U.S. fiscal stability, investors opted for profit-booking and adopted a cautious stance. Selling pressure was widespread as participants awaited more clarity on the India-U.S. trade agreement. Given the current premium valuations and delays in the trade deal, we foresee a phase of short-term consolidation, which may lead FIIs to scale back their positions in the domestic market."
Indian stock indices soared early last week, supported by the news that the conflict between India and Pakistan had de-escalated after the two Armed forces reached an understanding to stop the military actions.
Another shot in the arm came from the easing of trade wars between the US and China. They had agreed to withdraw their previously announced reciprocal tariffs and counter tariffs for an initial period of 90 days.
For Indian stock markets, key monitorables going ahead are Q4 GDP numbers and global cues. The official GDP data for Q4 2024-25 is scheduled to be released on May 30 by the National Statistics Office, along with the annual GDP for 2024-25.
During the April-June, July-September, and October-December 2024 quarters, the country's economy, in real terms, observed a growth rate of 6.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent, and 6.2 per cent, respectively. As per the second advance estimates of NSO, the country's economy is projected to grow at 6.5 per cent in 2024-25.
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