Sensex Slips 388 Points, Nifty Holds 17,500; Metal And IT Stocks Drag

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped 1.5 per cent each, dragged by JSW Energy, Bajaj Holdings, Godrej Properties, Mindtree, YES Bank, Birlasoft, GSFC, and Neuland Labs

New Delhi: The key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday extended their decline into second straight session, mostly dragged by metal and IT stocks.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slumped 388 points to close at 58,576, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 145 points down to end at 17,530.

Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Power Grid, SBI Life, and ICICI Bank were the top winners on the benchmark indices, rising upwards of 0.5 per cent each.

On the flip side, losses in Hindalco, Coal India, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Grasim, L&T, Bajaj Auto, BPCL, Wipro, Tech M, JSW Steel, UPL, Bharti Airtel, and RIL were the top losers. All these shares skid between 1.8 per cent and 6 per cent.   

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipped 1.5 per cent each, dragged by JSW Energy, Bajaj Holdings, Godrej Properties, Mindtree, YES Bank, Birlasoft, GSFC, and Neuland Labs.

Sectorally, the Nifty Bank and Private Bank indices advanced 0.4 per cent each. 12 out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, ended in the red. Nifty Metal and Nifty IT underperformed the index by falling as much as 2.74 per cent and 1.48 per cent, respectively.   

On Monday, the Sensex tanked 482 points (0.81 per cent) to settle at 58,964. The Nifty declined by 109 points (0.62 per cent) to finish at 17,674.

In Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Seoul, Shanghai, and Tokyo were trading lower in mid-session deals. Stocks in the US also ended lower on Monday. On Wall Street, Nasdaq Composite Futures were mildly higher, while Dow Jones and S&P500 Futures were up to 0.12 per cent lower.

"US stock markets ended sharply lower on Monday as investors started the holiday-shortened week in a risk-off mood, as rising bond yields weighed on market-leading growth stocks ahead of crucial inflation data. Asian markets are trading on a negative note as investors continue monitoring developments surrounding the Covid situation in mainland China," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2 per cent to $100.45 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 1,145.24 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.