Sensex Falls Over 150 Points, Nifty Trades Below 16,250; IT, Bank Stocks Drag

Indian equity indices on Tuesday traded lower in opening deals after rising for two consecutive sessions, dragged by consumer goods, technology and bank stocks. Domestic indices took cues from the Asian markets, which mostly declined following an overnight slide on Wall Street.

However, global markets struggled to find a firm direction as U.S. stock futures and Japan’s Nikkei were up.

Back home, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 179 points or 0.33 per cent to 54,341 in the early session, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 53 points or 0.33 per cent lower to trade at 16,225.

Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 edged 0.08 per cent higher and small-cap shed 0.19 per cent.

11 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Bank and Nifty FMCG were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.26 per cent, 0.31 per cent and 0.39 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC Life was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 0.94 per cent to ₹ 537.65. SBI Life, Tata Consumer Products, Nestle India and Asian Paints were also among the laggards.

Though, the overall market breadth was positive as 1,733 shares were advancing while 843 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Infosys, HCL Tech, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, ICICI Bank, Titan, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance and Hindustan Unilever were among the top losers.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, fell 0.39 per cent to trade at ₹ 693.65.

In contrast, Tata Steel, M&M, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Sun Pharma were trading in the green.

Sensex had rallied 760 points or 1.41 per cent to close at 54,521 on Monday, while Nifty had moved 229 points or 1.43 per cent higher to settle at 16,279.