Sensex ends 205 pts lower after IMF cuts growth forecast

Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) The benchmark Sensex on Tuesday closed 205 points lower after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) slashed India's 2019 growth estimates from 4.8 per cent from 6.1 per cent for the current fiscal year.Auto and manufacturing sector stocks lost the most during the trade session. While the Nifty auto index closed 1.28 per cent lower, the Nifty metal index lost 1.27 per cent.Globally, Asian markets, especially the Hang Seng index, fell sharply after Moody's Investors Service downgraded the city's rating. The IMF has also lowered the growth estimate of India to 4.80% for 2019, which prompted investors to resort to profit-taking," Shrikant Chouhan of Kotak Securities said.Sensex closed 205 points lower at 41,323.81 after hitting an intra-day high of 41,532.59 and a low of 41,294.30. The Nifty closed at 12,169.85, lower by 54.70 points.However, the broader market continued to outperform benchmarks with Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.1 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 100 closing higher by 0.1 per cent.Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services said that some subdued results in Q3 compared to the solid expectation has triggered a consolidation in the market."We believe this is a rational reaction of the market which will hold in the short-term and can reverse as per the final outcome of Budget & Q3FY20 results," Nair added.
--IANS ravi/prs