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Sensex, Nifty fall from record highs, agrochemical firm UPL weighs

By Reuters

  • 10 Dec 2020
Sensex, Nifty fall from record highs, agrochemical firm UPL weighs
Credit: Reuters

Indian shares stumbled on Thursday and the Nifty snapped a seven-session streak of gains, dragged down by agrochemical company UPL, as stock markets across the globe took a breather following recent record highs.

The NSE Nifty 50 index ended 0.38% lower at 13,478.30, while the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.31% at 45,959.88, snapping five sessions of gains.

Asian equities also inched away from record highs and the MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.34% lower on uncertainty about U.S. stimulus and after Britain's medicine regulator issued an anaphylaxis warning on Pfizer's vaccine following some adverse reactions.

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In Mumbai trading, UPL Ltd was the biggest loser on the Nifty but it recovered some losses in late afternoon trade after the agrochemical maker denied a report that promoters siphoned off money.

UPL stock, which fell as much as 15.53% after the Economic Times reported a whistleblower complaint, finished the session 11.3% lower.

The Nifty Midcap 100 Index, which has outperformed the blue-chip indexes so far this year, snapped nine sessions of gains to close 0.83% lower.

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India's main indexes have hit record highs in 14 of the last 21 sessions and are up around 4% so far in December, mainly driven by hopes of a COVID-19 vaccine.

India's drugs regulator on Wednesday said it needed more data to decide on emergency authorisation for vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech.

On Thursday, 10 of the 13 Nifty sub-indexes ended lower with the Nifty PSU bank index closing 1.5% down.

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Cement stocks ACC Ltd, Ambuja Cement and UltraTech Cement slid between 1.45% and 3.5% after Reuters reported late Wednesday that India's antitrust body conducted raids at the companies' offices.

Bucking the trend, the Nifty FMCG index hit a record high to settle 2.8% higher.

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