Nifty breaches 10700; Sensex dives 378 points; Finance, metal stocks weigh

Indian benchmark indices slumped over 1% on Thursday following a selloff in Asian markets, and as investors turned cautious ahead of corporate earnings beginning next week. The Indian rupee weakened against the US dollar for the second session, tracking losses in Asian currencies. The BSE Sensex closed 377.81 points, or 1.05%, down at 35,513.71, and the Nifty 50 ended 120.25 points, or 1.11%, lower at 10,672.25.Among major movers, shares of Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank slumped, while Bank of Baroda shares jumped after BoB announced share swap ratio of their proposed merger. Select auto stocks, including Eicher Motors and M&M, extended losses following disappointing December vehicles sales data.The BSE midcap and smallcap indices fell 1.46% and 1.03%, respectively. All the sectoral indices on BSE, barring FMCG and telecom, posted losses, with metal losing most at over 2%. Oil and gas, basic materials and energy were down over 1.3%.HCL Tech, Titan, Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever and Bharti Airtel were among the major gainers on the key indices, whereas Eicher Motors, M&M, Vedanta, Tata Steel, HPCL and ONGC were among the top losers.“It’s the anxiety on global front which is haunting our markets now. And it may continue to linger for some time and then earnings season would take over,” said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking Ltd. “Nifty may see fresh fall below 10,650 and the next target could be 10,500.”In global markets, European stocks and US equity-index futures slumped after Apple added to global growth concerns with a cut in its sales outlook. Stocks in Asia were mixed, while there were wild moves in the currency markets as the yen surged. Oil prices slipped nearly 2% amid volatile currency and stock markets, and as analysts warned of an economic slowdown for 2019.Source- Live Mint