Sensex, Nifty tank 1 pc amid slump in TCS, foreign fund outflows

Mumbai, Mar 19 (PTI) Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty tumbled 1 per cent each on Tuesday dragged down by a heavy sell-off in TCS, Infosys and Reliance Industries amid weak Asian markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 736.37 points or 1.01 per cent to settle at 72,012.05 after opening on a weak note. During the day, it dropped 815.07 points or 1.12 per cent to 71,933.35.

The NSE Nifty slumped 238.25 points or 1.08 per cent to finish at 21,817.45.

Investors turned cautious ahead of the US Fed interest rate decision this week, analysts said.

Among Sensex shares, Tata Consultancy Services tanked over 4 per cent as its promoter Tata Sons sold around 2.3 crore shares, or 0.65 per cent of equity stake, in the IT services major through block deals.

IndusInd Bank, Wipro, Nestle, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Power Grid, ITC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors and UltraTech Cement were the other major laggards.

Bajaj Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Titan and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower, while Tokyo ended in the green.

European markets were trading with marginal gains. Wall Street ended in positive territory on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,051.09 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.40 per cent to USD 86.54 a barrel.

The 30-share BSE benchmark climbed 104.99 points, or 0.14 per cent, to settle at 72,748.42 on Monday. The NSE Nifty went up 32.35 points, or 0.15 per cent, to 22,055.70.