Stock Market: Sensex Declines 316 Points; Nifty Settles Below 19,550. PSU Bank Zooms

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Maruti, NTPC, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank emerged losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday closed in the negative zone amid a gloomy global sentiment. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 316 points to settle at 65,512. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 19,529, down 110 points. The domestic indices were off their respective intraday lows of 65,345 and 19,480.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Maruti, NTPC, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank emerged losers. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance, L&T, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, SBI, UltraCemco were among the gainers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index ended flat, while Smallcap index rose 0.6 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank index zoomed 2.3 per cent on the NSE, followed by the Nifty Media and Realty indices. FMCG, power, metal, and oil & gas went down 0.5-1 per cent. The Nifty Auto index declined over 1 per cent amid mixed trend in September auto sales.

On Monday, the stock market across India remained closed on October 2 on account of Gandhi Jayanti. All segments of the market, including equity, derivatives and SLB, remained closed for trading on Monday.

In Asian markets, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled lower while Shanghai ended in the green. European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended mostly in the green on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.07 per cent to $90.73 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,685.70 crore on Friday, according to exchange data. FPIs (Foreign Portfolio Investors) turned net sellers and pulled out over Rs 14,767 crore from the Indian equities in September, primarily due to dollar appreciation, steady rise in the US bond yields, and a spike in crude oil prices.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 15 paise to close at 83.21 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday, as a strong US dollar and weak domestic equities dented investor sentiments. Forex traders said muted domestic macroeconomic data and sustained FII outflows also mounted downside pressure on rupee.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.21 against the US dollar and moved in a range of 83.23 to 83.17. The rupee finally settled at 83.21 (provisional) against the US dollar, down 15 paise from its previous close. On Friday, the rupee appreciated 13 paise to settle at 83.06 against the US dollar.