Sensex, Nifty50 start on a negative note; Infosys, GAIL top losers

NEW DELHI: Benchmark indices opened on a negative note on Friday, as investors remained unsure about the implications of a likely ‘hung parliament’ in UK on Brexit talks and global equities per se. A sharp 3 per cent drop in Infosys shares on reports its promoters were looking to pare stake in the company too weighed on the sentiment. That said, the losses were limited after lack of firework in ex-FBI’s director James Comey pushed US stocks higher in overnight trade.

At 9.25 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 86 points, or 0.26 per cent, lower at 31,131.68. The Nifty 50 was trading 31 points, or 0.32 per cent, lower at 9616.10. Midcap and Smallcap indices were down up to 0.30 per cent.

With over 515 results declared out of 650 seats, May’s conservative party won 231 seats, which were neck-to-neck with labour’s 223 seats. SNP won 31 seats.

Mohamed El-Erian, Chief Economic Adviser at Allianz, Newport Beach, Calif told Reuters: “With initial exit polls pointing to the Tories losing seats and that Prime Minister May’s early election gamble is not paying off, markets are pricing in a more complex outlook for policy implementation, including Brexit."

Among stocks, Infosys fell 2.38 per cent to Rs 933.50 on reports that the co-founders of the company are exploring a sale of their entire 12.75 per cent stake in the company worth about Rs 28,000 crore. The promoters appear to have veered around to the view that it might be better to make a complete break from the company, TOI reported.

GAIL, Wipro, ICICI Bank and Adani Ports declined 1.52 per cent, 1.20 per cent, 1.09 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

Reliance Industries rose 1.21 per cent to Rs 1,346 on BSE. NTPC, Power Grid and Coal India added 0.98 per cent, 0.75 per cent and 0.70 per cent, respectively.