After two days of a solid rally, benchmark equity indices took a downward turn on Tuesday, weighed down by the underperformance of index giants HDFC twins and Reliance Industries. The 30-share BSE Sensex witnessed a decline of 413.24 points or 0.66 percent, settling at 61,932.47, despite initially opening on a positive note. Throughout the trading day, it experienced a further drop of 498.3 points or 0.79 percent, reaching 61,847.41.
The NSE Nifty also saw a decline of 112.35 points or 0.61 percent, ending at 18,286.50. Among the major laggards on the Sensex were HDFC, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, and Maruti. On the other hand, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Asian Paints, and Tata Consultancy Services emerged as significant gainers.
While Asian markets in Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong closed in the green, Shanghai settled lower. European markets were mostly trading in the green, while the US market had ended with gains on Monday.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, noted that the domestic benchmark’s ascent towards a record high was interrupted by selling pressure in heavyweight stocks. However, small and mid-cap stocks outperformed. He further highlighted that the Eurozone economy experienced modest growth of 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January-March period, following a stagnant previous quarter. In the US market, cautious trading prevailed as debt-ceiling negotiations took precedence.
In the commodities market, the global oil benchmark Brent crude declined by 0.65 percent, settling at USD 74.82 per barrel.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Monday, purchasing equities worth Rs 1,685.29 crore.
On the previous trading day, the BSE benchmark had climbed 317.81 points or 0.51 percent to settle at 62,345.71, while the broader NSE Nifty gained 84.05 points or 0.46 percent to end at 18,398.85.