Sensex tanks 493 points; Nifty falls for 6th day as crude oil jumps to USD 91/barrel

MUMBAI: Market benchmark indices ended lower on Tuesday, with the Sensex falling 493 points and the Nifty dropping to 24,154.90 level, as elevated crude oil prices and fading hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in West Asia weighed heavily on investors' sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was down 492.70 points, or 0.63 per cent, to settle at 77,235.46, registering its third day of decline. During the fag-end of trade, it tanked 493.8 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 77,234.36.

The 50-share NSE Nifty declined for the sixth day, sliding 132.75 points, or 0.55 per cent, to end at 24,154.90.

From the Sensex pack, Asian Paints, Infosys, HCL Tech, Bharti Airtel, Tata Consultancy Services, and Hindustan Unilever were among the major laggards.

Axis Bank, Power Grid, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bajaj Finance were among the winners.

The BSE MidCap Select index declined 0.46 per cent, while SmallCap Select index was up 0.24 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, Focused IT tanked 1.84 per cent, ITechnology Realty (1.28 per cent), PSU Bank (1.04 per cent), Consumer Durables (0.81 per cent), FMCG (0.67 per cent), Metal (0.47 per cent), and Capital Goods (0.47 per cent).

MidSmall Private Banks Quality Tilt, MidSmall Private Banks, Hospitals and Healthcare were the winners.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, went up 0.17 per cent to USD 91.02 per barrel.

"Crude oil remained the primary drag on market sentiment, while rising US bond yields and weak global cues prolonged the risk-off trend in Indian equities. Investor anxiety increased as hopes for a Middle East resolution faded following the expiration of the temporary US-Iran ceasefire, heightening concerns about renewed inflation," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Elevated US yields further reduced the attractiveness of emerging markets, and IT stocks-led losses amid fears that persistently high interest rates could dampen global technology spending, he added.

Among the Tata Group stocks, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles was down 2.28 per cent, Tata Chemicals slipped 1.63 per cent, TCS dipped 1.47 per cent. Tata Consumer Products fell 1.25 per cent, Voltas edged lower by 1.10 per cent, Tata Communications declined 1 per cent, Tata Investment Corporation skidded 0.94 per cent, Tata Steel lost 0.48 per cent, Titan (0.39 per cent), Tata Power (0.24 per cent) and Trent (0.24 per cent) on the BSE.

A key annual general meeting of Tata Sons, the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate, had to be adjourned on Tuesday due to lack of quorum, sources said.

The meeting had to be adjourned because Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT) and Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), which jointly nominate a representative, could not be present, they said.

The AGM was considered key because it comes within a week of current Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran opting out of reappointment after his term ends next February.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 settled lower, while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended marginally higher.

Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note.

US markets ended in negative territory on Monday.

"Indian equity markets extended their losing streak to a sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, tracking weakness across global markets as rising crude oil prices and a sharp sell-off in US Treasuries weighed on investor sentiment," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

Fading hopes of a diplomatic breakthrough in the Middle East dampened risk appetite, he added.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,535.10 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

On Monday, the Sensex declined 281.09 points, or 0.36 per cent, to settle at 77,728.16. The Nifty was down 78.35 points, or 0.32 per cent, to end at 24,287.65, taking the losses to the fifth day.