Sensex slips 299 points after hitting 40,000 mark as Modi wins election

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Equity benchmark indices gave up early gains and slipped into the red on Thursday after the Sensex breached 40,000 marks briefly and Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led coalition won a back-to-back majority in the recent general elections.

Profit booking dragged the stocks lower despite the mandate to Modi for pursuing business-friendly policies and taking decisive action on national security.

At the closing bell, the BSE S&P Sensex was down 299 points at 38,811 while the Nifty 50 slipped 89 points to 11,657.

Except media and realty, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange were in the negative zone with losses across the board.

Mining major Vedanta was down 5.6 per cent, Eicher Motors 4 per cent, ITC 3.8 per cent, Hindalco 3 per cent and Bajaj Finserv 2.6 per cent.

However, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) Limited was up nearly 6 per cent after the company announced it has obtained all requisite clearances and permissions to develop and operate a container terminal at Yangon Port in Myanmar.

Shares of IndusInd Bank also closed 5 per cent higher after the bank said it has an exposure of Rs 3,004 crore to the IL&FS Group which has been classified as a non-performing loan in the fourth quarter of 2018-19.

Zee Entertainment, Grasim and Cipla also showed gains between 2 and 5 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks traded in the red as investor concerns grew over the escalating US-China trade tensions. Shares fell were in the negative territory at Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul.

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies