Mumbai– Indian benchmark stock indexes ended lower Tuesday, snapping a four-session winning streak as investors turned cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy decision.
Weakness in banking, financial services and information technology stocks weighed on the market.
The Sensex fell 210.08 points, or 0.27%, to close at 78,428.95. The Nifty declined 159.40 points, or 0.64%, to settle at 24,614.90.
The Nifty gradually moved lower during the session and touched an intraday low of 24,428 before recovering some of its losses.
“Although it attempted a recovery from lower levels, buying interest remained limited, and the index faced selling pressure near the 24,500 zone, reinforcing it as the immediate resistance zone,” an analyst said.
The analyst said the 24,400 level remains the index’s immediate support zone. A sustained decline below that level could trigger further profit-taking and pull the Nifty toward 24,300.
Investors remained cautious ahead of the RBI’s policy announcement Wednesday, closely monitoring expectations for interest rates and the central bank’s assessment of inflation, economic growth and liquidity conditions.
Grasim Industries, HDFC Life Insurance Co. and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest decliners on the Nifty.
Selling pressure was also visible across several sectors. The Nifty Realty index fell more than 2%, making it the worst-performing sectoral index of the session.
The Nifty FMCG, Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Bank indexes also closed lower.
Performance in the broader market was mixed. The Nifty MidCap index declined 0.29%, while the Nifty SmallCap index rose 0.23%.
Market participants are expected to look to the RBI’s outlook on interest rates, inflation and liquidity for guidance on the market’s next direction. (Source: IANS)
