Sensex, Nifty drift lower on weak global cues

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 361 points on Tuesday, snapping its three-day gaining streak due to selling in index major Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and IT shares amid mixed global trends. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 361.64 points or 0.50 per cent to settle at 72,470.30 with 20 of its components ending in the red and 10 in the green. During the day, it fell by 468.91 points or 0.64 per cent to 72,363.03 points. The broader Nifty of NSE declined 92.05 points or 0.42 per cent to 22,004.70 as 30 of its constituents dropped and 20 advanced.

“Aligned with global trends, the domestic market sustained its consolidation pattern, ending close to 22,000. While key data such as US GDP and inflation during the week may provide some clues on future rate cut paths, the fiscal year-ending truncated week, coupled with reduced trading volumes and monthly expiry, are likely to contribute to volatility. Generally, midcaps are performing well post the consolidation of the last 2-3 weeks, while the IT sector continued to experience sluggishness following weak global IT spending forecasts,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.11 per cent while midcap index climbed 0.71 per cent. Among the indices, teck fell by 0.83 per cent, IT dipped by 0.57 per cent, bankex by 0.51 per cent and financial services by 0.26 per cent. Services jumped 1.48 per cent, realty climbed 1.45 per cent, industrials (0.95 per cent) and oil & gas (0.84 per cent) were among the gainers.

Among Sensex shares, PowerGrid fell the most by 2.07 per cent. Bharti Airtel dropped 1.99 per cent amid its subsidiary Bharti Hexacom announcing the launch of its Rs 4,275-crore IPO on April 3 at a price band of Rs 542 to Rs 570 per share. HDFC Bank declined 1.11 per cent contributing over 106 points to the total fall in Sensex. Reliance Industries fell 0.88 per cent, adding over 77 points to the fall. IT major Wipro dropped 1.5 per cent, Infosys by 1 per cent and TCS by 0.92 per cent and were a major drag on key indices. Kotak Mahindra Bank, UltraTech Cement, and Asian Paints were also among the losers.

Bajaj Finance, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, Tata Motors, IndusInd Bank and Bajaj Finserv were among the gainers. In Asian markets, Tokyo settled lower, while Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the positive territory. European markets were trading mostly in the green.