Sensex falls over 38 points despite postive economic data

Snapping its three-day winning streak, market benchmark BSE Sensex fell over 38 points in early trade today on profit-booking in recent gainers, despite inflation fell to multi-year low of 3.17 per cent in January.

The 30-share barometer, which had gained 61.70 points in the previous three straight sessions, was trading lower by 38.20 points, or 0.13 per cent, at 28,313.42, with auto, power, capital goods and metal stocks leading the losses. On similar lines, the NSE Nifty slipped below the 8,800-mark by falling 17.80 points, or 0.20 per cent, at 8,787.25 points.

Brokers said sentiment turned weak despite retail inflation falling to 3.17 per cent in January,



mainly on account of declining prices of food items including vegetables and pulses. Moreover, a weak trend at other Asian markets also weighed on sentiment here, they said.

However, shares of Hindalco Industries rose 1.3 per cent to trade at Rs 187.40 after the company yesterday reported a standalone net profit at Rs 320.56 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.

Globally, Japan's Nikkei was down 0.16 per cent, Shanghai's Composite Index shed 0.14 per cent, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped 0.03 per cent in their early deals. The US Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at fresh record high by climbing 0.7 per cent in yesterday's trade.