Sensex Dips 275 Points, Nifty Trades Below 18,000; Financial Stocks Drag

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were hovering in the positive territory, up to 0.7 per cent higher

New Delhi: The key domestic equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday slipped in to the negative zone in early morning trade.

At 10.am, the 30-share Sensex lost 275 points to 60,336, while the NSE Nifty was at 17,986, down 67 points.

Among the Sensex platform, ITC, NTPC, Sun Pharma, M&M, PowerGrid, Maruti, TCS, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's, L&T, and Titan were the top gainers. Eicher Motors, Adani Ports, ONGC and Tata Motors were the additional gainers on the Nifty.

On the flip side, Bajaj twins, HDFC twins, IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Ultractech Cement, BPCL, meanwhile were the top losers.

Among stocks, SBI Cards was down 4 per cent on the BSE. As per reports, private equity firm Carlyle Group will sell its entire stake in the company for as much as Rs 2,558 crore, while Zomato was down 2.5 per cent after the CCI on Monday ordered a detailed probe against Zomato and Swiggy for alleged unfair business practices.

On the Sensex, 17 stocks were trading with gains, while the remaining 13 scrips, including the HDFC twins, slipped into the negative territory, down over 1 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices were hovering in the positive territory, up to 0.7 per cent higher.

Seven out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by NSE, were trading in the red. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were underperforming the index by falling as much as 0.62 per cent and 0.79 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty Auto, Pharma, and Consumer Durbales were the leading gainers, up to 1 per cent higher.

On Monday, Sensex surged 1,335 points (2.25 per cent) to close at 60,612, while Nifty moved 383 points (2.17 per cent) higher to settle at 18,053.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude advanced 1.29 per cent to $108.92 per barrel.

According to the PTI, Asian markets saw mixed trends as Japanese benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading marginally lower, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi indices were in the positive terrain. On Monday, key US indices ended the day with gains.

Foreign portfolio investors pumped in more than Rs 1,150 crore into equities on Monday amid a rally in the market.