It was a day of volatile trading at the Indian stock exchange on Tuesday as benchmark equity indices declined amid profit-taking in IT, consumer durables and realty shares, as well as weak trends in Asian markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 150.68 points or 0.18 per cent at 84,628.16. The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 29.85 points or 0.11 per cent to 25,936.20.
Despite opening strong in early trade, the Sensex erased gains as investors took profits, tanking nearly 560 points to hit a low of 84,219.39 during the day. However, buying support at lower levels helped it recover some losses in the final half hour of trade.
Among Sensex firms, Trent, ICICI Bank, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj Finance were the major laggards.
However, Tata Steel, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers.
“The domestic market remained volatile in negative terrain and ended flat, weighed down by profit booking on monthly expiry and weak global cues,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited.
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The silver lining in this dip was the metals sector, which gained on renewed optimism following China’s announcement to curb steel overcapacity and potential progress in US-China trade relations.
Metal jumped 1.30 per cent, commodities climbed 0.55 per cent, industrials (0.21 per cent), bankex (0.06 per cent) and financial services (0.03 per cent).
The PSU banks outperformed amid reports of a potential increase in FII holding limits, Nair noted.
The BSE midcap gauge went up by 0.12 per cent and smallcap index edged higher by 0.06 per cent.
Realty dropped 1 per cent, utilities (0.82 per cent), BSE Focused IT (0.72 per cent), consumer durables (0.64 per cent) and IT (0.60 per cent).
“The Nifty-50 traded within a narrow 25,800-26,000 range for most of the day, reflecting cautious sentiment ahead of key global events such as the US Federal Reserve’s policy outcome,” said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm.
The upcoming US Federal Reserve meeting is also keeping investors on cautious footing.
“Market sentiment remained cautious ahead of key global central bank meetings and major US tech earnings announcements. Additionally, muted activity by foreign institutional investors in the cash segment weighed on sentiment, though steady domestic inflows and a largely positive earnings season so far helped maintain an overall constructive tone,” observed Ajit Mishra - SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
In Asian markets, it was mixed results for South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, which settled lower.
Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note, but US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹55.58 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) however, bought stocks worth ₹2,492.12 crore in the previous trade.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.78 per cent to USD 64.42 a barrel.
On Monday, the 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 566.96 points or 0.67 per cent to settle at 84,778.84. The Nifty climbed 170.90 points or 0.66 per cent to 25,966.05.
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