Stocks snap climb ahead of Economic Survey, Budget

Stocks snap climb ahead of Economic Survey, Budget The 30-share barometer opened a touch lower and settled down 32.9 points, or 0.12% , at 27,849.56

The Sensex on Monday logged its first drop in five sessions, slipping 33 points, after investors took profit and adopted a cautious line ahead of the Economic Survey and the

Union Budget 2017 amid weak global leads.

The Economic Survey is due to be released on Tuesday and the Budget on Wednesday.

Investors across the globe were spooked after US president Donald Trump imposed immigration curbs that sparked criticism, adding to fears that his 'America First' policy may prove destabilising for the world. This led to a lower closing in Asia and a muted opening in Europe, traders said.

The 30-share barometer opened a touch lower and settled down 32.9 points, or 0.12 per cent, at 27,849.56. The index had rallied 848 points in the past four sessions.The 50-share Nifty too dropped 8.5 points, or 0.1 per cent, at 8,632.7. Intra-day, it traded between 8,617.7 and 8,662.6.

"Pressure prevailed due to weak US Q4 gross domestic product data," said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services.

The uptrend in the previous four sessions was largely because of fresh foreign inflows, enthusiasm of domestic investors amid optimism on better-than-estimated earnings.Tata Motors took the biggest hit, plunging 2.18 per cent, followed by Tata Steel (1.56 per cent).

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, State Bank of India, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Auto, NTPC, Tata Consultancy Services, Coal India, HDFC Bank, ITC, ICICI Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Wipro, Adani Ports, and Axis Bank lost too.

The country's largest mortgage lender, HDFC Ltd, also ended 0.13 per cent down at Rs 1,368.90 despite a 12.80 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 2,728.66 crore for the third quarter ended December.

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