Mumbai– Broadly negative global cues such as high crude oil prices and concerns over escalation in global protectionist measures coupled with a weak rupee depressed the Indian equity markets on Tuesday.
According to market observers, heavy selling pressure was witnessed in consumer durables, banking and auto stocks.
Index-wise, the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) closed at 11,520.30 points, lower 62.05 points or 0.54 per cent from its previous close of 11,582.35 points.
Similarly, the barometer S&P BSE Sensex closed in the negative territory. It had opened at 38,460.96 points, closed at 38,157.92 points, lower by 154.60 points or 0.40 per cent from the previous close of 38,312.52 points.
The Sensex registered an intra-day high of 38,518.56 points and a low of 38,098.60 points during the day’s trade.
“Selling continued at Dalal Street as the markets corrected further on Tuesday to end in negative territory for the second consecutive session,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail of Research, HDFC Securities.
“Major Asian markets have closed on a positive note barring the Jakarta and Nikkei indices. European indices like FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40 traded in the red.”
Geojit Financial Services’ Head of Research, Vinod Nair, said: “Continued weakness in currency and surge in oil price dragged the indices to a consolidation.
“Additionally, concerns on widening deficit and inflation trajectory led domestic bond yield to break 8 per cent mark. Weak global market on account of trade tensions further steered the investor’s sentiment.”
On the currency front, the Indian rupee crashed to close at a record low of 71.58 against the US dollar, weaker by 37 paise than its previous close of 71.21 per greenback.
Investment-wise, provisional data with exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors bought scrips worth Rs 32.64 crore and domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth Rs 21.41 crore.
Sector-wise, only the S&P BSE Teck (technology, entertainment and media) index was in the positive, up by 102.11 points.
In contrast, the S&P BSE consumer durables index declined by 562.61 points, the banking index fell by 443.96 and auto stocks ended 434.70 points lower than its previous close.
In a major stock-wise development, market capitalisation (m-cap) of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) crossed Rs 8 lakh crore for the first time. It is the second company to reach the landmark level after Reliance Industries.
The m-cap of TCS closed at Rs 8.01 crore on the BSE. Share price of TCS on the BSE Sensex closed at Rs 2,093.20 higher by Rs 38.25 or 1.86 per cent from its previous close.
The top gainers at the Sensex were Infosys up 2.64 per cent at Rs 735.65, TCS up 1.86 per cent at Rs 2,093.20; Wipro, up 1.42 per cent at Rs 313.55; Axis Bank, up 1.39 per cent at Rs 640.50, and Reliance Industries, up 0.97 per cent at Rs 1,242.35.
The majors losers were Asian Paints, down 3.49 per cent at Rs 1,312.05; State Bank of India, down 3.20 per cent at Rs 296.60; Hindustan Unilever, down 2.80 per cent at Rs 1,651.40; Coal India, down 2.61 per cent at Rs 279.95 per share.(IANS)
