Sensex, Nifty fall for 2nd day on profit taking in oil, banking stocks

Mumbai, Apr 18 (PTI) Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower for a second day on Tuesday due to profit-taking in select banking, power and FMCG stocks amid mixed global markets and foreign fund outflows.

Fall in index major Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also dented sentiment.

Reversing its early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 183.74 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 59,727.01. During the day, it declined 331.45 points or 0.55 per cent to a low of 59,579.30.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 46.70 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 17,660.15 as 29 of its stocks declined while 21 advanced. After a gap-up opening, the index moved in a range of 17,766.60 to 17,610.20 during the day.

Among Sensex stocks, PowerGrid fell the most by 2.62 per cent. UltraTech Cement, Titan, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, ITC and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards.

Nestle India bucked the trend, closing with gains of 1.99 per cent. HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank, Wipro, Maruti, Larsen & Toubro and Asian Paints were among the gainers.

“The banking stocks pared the performance during the day while the market was grappling with the sell-off in the IT sector. However, the IT sector experienced a marginal relief rally, aided by bottom fishing, as the recent correction has made the sector attractive for long-term investment,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Global markets struggled to make much headway on Tuesday as investors weighed Chinese data that pointed to an uneven recovery, as well as the possibility of further policy tightening by the Federal Reserve and other central banks, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.52 per cent and smallcap index gained 0.22 per cent.

Among indices, utilities fell 0.81 per cent, power went lower by 0.76 per cent, telecommunication declined by 0.71 per cent, consumer durables (0.62 per cent) and commodities (0.18 per cent).

Realty, healthcare, metal, IT and teck were among the winners.

“Markets languished in negative territory for the better part of the trading session and ended weak for the second day in a row as selective profit-taking in banking, power & FMCG stocks weighed. However, buying in realty and metal stocks limited the downside,” Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong ended lower, while Japan Shanghai settled with gains.

European markets were trading with gains during the afternoon trade. The US markets had ended in positive territory on Monday.

The Sensex had tanked 520.25 points or 0.86 per cent to settle at 59,910.75 on Monday. The Nifty fell 121.15 points or 0.68 per cent to finish at 17,706.85.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.12 per cent to USD 84.66 per barrel.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 533.20 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.