Equities end marginally lower, extend losses for fifth straight day

MUMBAI: Indian equities fell for the fifth straight day with the broader index falling marginally on global cues, dealers said.

At close, Sensex ended 37.70 points or 0.07 per cent down at 57,107.52, while Nifty closed 8.90 points or 0.05 per cent down at 17,007.40.

About 1,882 shares advanced, 1,522 shares declined while 136 shares remained unchanged on Tuesday.

Tata Steel, Titan Company, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and ICICI Bank were major losers on the Sensex.

"In search of a safer dollar and elevated bond yields, foreign investors are withdrawing from Indian equities, resulting in the decline of the domestic market. In contrast to the recent trend of sector performance, banks and autos are exhibiting negative bias, while IT and pharma are showcasing resilience. Crude price are closing down, despite expectations that OPEC+ will take more action to cut production in the coming meeting, due to weakening global economy," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Among sectors, oil and gas, telecom and IT were the main gainers while power, metals and banks were the main losers. The smallcap index outperformed, rising 0.49 per cent even as the advance decline ratio improved to 1.37:1.

Global markets remained on edge on Tuesday as investors braced for a heightened risk of recession, even as dip buyers emerged.

Chinese markets recovered on expectations of more stimulus measures by the government. People's Bank of China injected about $24.7 billion of liquidity into the sector via repo market operations.

"Nifty took support from the upgap of 16,947 and closed flat after making a lower low compared to the previous day. The downtrend in the Nifty may have halted temporarily, though it needs to close above 17,196 for confirmation. On falls, 16,942 will be watched closely," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.