Sensex Slips Over 250 Points, Nifty Trades Below 16,550; IT, Auto Stocks Drag

Indian equity benchmarks on Tuesday traded lower in opening deals, extending their fall for the second straight session. Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a cautious start for the domestic indices.

Stocks in Asia were mixed as investors awaited the quantum of another sharp U.S. interest rate hike. The central bank had raised its benchmark rate by 50 basis points (bps) in its previous policy and is likely to hike it further by 75 bps in July’s policy outcome, due on Wednesday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 253 points or 0.45 per cent to 55,514 in the early trade, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 84 points or 0.51 per cent lower to trade at 16,547.

Mid- and small-cap shares were negative as Nifty Midcap 100 slipped 0.36 per cent and small-cap shed 0.53 per cent.

12 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the red. Sub-indexes IT and Nifty Auto were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 1.27 per cent and 0.69 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Dr Reddy’s was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 2.29 per cent to ₹ 4,231.30. Infosys, Nestle India, Hero MotoCorp and HCL Technologies were also among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was slightly weak as 1,164 shares were advancing while 1,264 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Dr Reddy’s, Nestle India, Asian Paints, Infosys, Axis Bank, HCL Tech, Kotak Mahindra Bank, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Hindustan Unilever, Wipro and TCS were among the top losers.

Shares of food delivery company Zomato extended their fall and plunged as much as 6.10 per cent to trade at ₹ 44.65 as a one-year lock-in period for promoters, employees and other investors came to an end following a 2021 listing.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, fell 0.52 per cent to trade at ₹ 680.60.

In contrast, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, SBI, M&M, ITC and PowerGrid were trading in the green.

Sensex had declined 306 points or 0.55 per cent to close at 55,766 on Monday, while Nifty had moved 88 points or 0.53 per cent lower to settle at 16,631.