Sun Pharmaceutical loses Rs 34,000 crore mcap, pulls down Sensex 237 points
Mumbai: The equity markets closed lower dragged down by a 15 per cent slump in the shares of Sun Pharmaceutical Ltd after the company said that that its FY16 revenue and profit could be adversely impacted due to certain expenses or charges arising on account of the merger of Ranbaxy. The lower than expected quarterly numbers from index heavyweight HDFC Bank also weighed on investor sentiments.
The Sensex closed the day at 28,182.14 down 237.98 points or 0.84 per cent while the Nifty dropped 74 points or 0.86 per cent to close at 8,529.45. The shares of Sun Pharma plunged 15 per cent, its biggest single-day fall, to settle at Rs 805.30, which wiped out Rs 34,055.55 crore of market capitalisation. The shares of HDFC Bank dropped 1.52 per cent after it reported a smaller than expected increase in net profit due to higher provisions for bad loans. The weak earnings number from HDFC Bank also triggered selling pressure in other banking stocks.
“We observed that the fall in index on Tuesday was accompanied by profit booking in small and mid cap stocks. At the same time, the banking index also underperformed and lost close to 2 per cent. All this indicates lack of strength in Sensex and Nifty at higher levels,” said Jayant Manglik, president, retail distribution, Religare Securities. According to the provisional data released by the stock exchanges, FPI sold shares worth Rs 226.88 crore. The broader market remained weak with 1,915 stocks traded on the BSE ending the day deep in the red.
