Sensex Ends Day 300 Points Lower; Services PMI Contracts

After opening the day in the red, share markets in India witnessed negative trading activity throughout the day and ended the day on a dull note. Losses were seen across most sectors with stocks in the metals sector and stocks in the oil and gas sector, leading the losses.

At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex stood lower by 300 points (down 0.9%) and the NSE Nifty closed down by 100 points (down 1%). The BSE Mid Cap index ended the day down 1%, while the BSE Small Cap index ended the day down by 1.1%.

Asian stock markets finished mixed. As of the most recent closing prices, the Hang Seng was down by 2.2% and the Shanghai Composite was up by 0.1%. The Nikkei 225 was down by 0.7%. Meanwhile, European markets, were trading on a positive note. The FTSE 100 was up by 0.4%, The DAX, was up by 0.7% while the CAC 40 was up by 0.3%.

The rupee was trading at Rs 65.11 against the US$ in the afternoon session. Oil prices were trading at US$ 64.67 at the time of writing.

In news about the economy. India’s services sector witnessed contraction in February for the first time since November last year, as rising price pressures led to a decline in new business orders.

India’s dominant services industry activity showed signs of weakness as new business continued to suffer. The country’s predominant sector witnessed contraction, with new orders falling for the first time since November, according to the Nikkei Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey by Markit.

The Services PMI is the reading of the country’s services sector output and is updated monthly. A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while any score below the mark denotes contraction.

A marginal rise in new business resulted in monthly increase in activity. The services PMI for February finished at 47.8, from 51.7 in January, and its lowest levels since August 2017.