Mumbai, Sep 22: The domestic stock market ended lower on Tuesday as selling in IT, banking and other heavyweight stocks erased the gains seen during the opening hours. The decline came after the benchmark indices had advanced for four consecutive sessions.
The BSE Sensex closed at 74,529.08, down 329.91 points, or 0.44 per cent. The index opened on a positive note and climbed to an intraday high of 75,038.93 before slipping to a low of 74,423.71. From the day’s high, the Sensex lost more than 500 points.
The Nifty 50 ended at 23,329, down 85.30 points, or 0.36 per cent. It opened at 23,454.05 and touched a high of 23,489 before moving lower during the session.
The market had started the day with some support from softer crude oil prices and positive global cues. However, the early optimism faded as investors turned cautious and booked profits at higher levels. The selling was particularly visible in IT and financial stocks.
IT stocks were among the biggest drags on the market. The Nifty IT index declined 0.86 per cent, with HCL Technologies falling 1.77 per cent, TCS 1.13 per cent, Infosys 0.98 per cent, LTIMindtree 0.93 per cent and Tech Mahindra 0.51 per cent.
Banking and financial stocks also remained under pressure. The Nifty Bank index fell 0.45 per cent, while the Nifty Financial Services index declined 0.42 per cent.
The weakness was visible across the broader market as well. Nifty Next 50 fell 0.39 per cent, Nifty 100 declined 0.37 per cent and Nifty 500 slipped 0.29 per cent. The Nifty Smallcap 100 index ended 0.23 per cent lower.
Despite the overall decline, several stocks managed to close higher. Eternal gained 1.94 per cent and IndiGo rose 1.58 per cent, while Titan, Tata Steel and NTPC also ended in positive territory. On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, TCS, Infosys and Sun Pharma were among the notable losers.
Market volatility remained relatively contained despite the fall in the benchmark indices. The India VIX declined 2.88 per cent to 10.92, suggesting that investors’ expectations of near-term market swings remained moderate.
Crude oil prices continued to be an important factor for investors. Softer oil prices can provide some relief to India because the country imports a large share of its crude requirement. Lower energy costs can also help ease pressure on inflation and corporate expenses.
However, investors remained cautious amid geopolitical uncertainty, global bond yields and foreign fund flows. Selling at higher levels after the recent four-session rally also contributed to Tuesday’s decline. Foreign institutional investors had sold equities worth ₹576.20 crore on Monday, while domestic institutional investors were net buyers of ₹2,797.27 crore, according to exchange data.
The day’s movement showed that investors are becoming selective after the recent recovery in the market. While lower crude prices and supportive global cues provided some comfort, weakness in major IT and financial stocks prevented the benchmarks from extending their gains.
Tuesday’s decline marked a pause in the market’s recent upward run, with investors now likely to keep a close watch on crude prices, global yields, foreign fund flows, geopolitical developments and upcoming corporate earnings for further direction.