Stock Market: Sensex Down 107 Points, Nifty Ends Above 19,550 Amid Volatility. PSBs Shine

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, M&M, JSW, HCL, Sun Pharma, Nestle were among the red. TechM, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv emerged gainers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday ended marginally lower in a volatile session, amid alternate bouts of buying and selling. The S&P BSE Sensex touched a high of 66,057.53, and then fell little over 300 points to hit a low of 65,752.63. The benchmark index eventually settled 107 points lower at 65,847. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty 50 from a high of 19,634 and slipped to a low of 19,533, eventually settled with a loss of 26 points at 19,571.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, M&M, JSW, HCL, Sun Pharma, Nestle were among the red. On the flipside, TechM, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, SBI, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv emerged gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices bucked the trend and settled marginally up to 0.3 per cent higher. 

The overall breadth was marginally positive, with 1,850 shares advancing as against 1,750 declining stocks on the BSE.

Sectorwise, PSU banks outperformed the market with smart gains, while all other sectoral indices closed in the red.

In the previous session on Monday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended at 65,953 levels, up 232 points, while the NSE Nifty50 rose 80 points to settle at 19,597 levels.

"While global cues will continue to dictate trends, investors would be watchful of the two key catalysts - RBI's monetary policy and US inflation data on Thursday," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled lower while Tokyo ended in the green. European markets were quoting in the negative territory. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.38 per cent to $84.16 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,892.77 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee depreciated 9 paise to settle at 82.84 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday weighed down by safe-haven dollar demand and a muted trend in domestic equities. Foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, analysts said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.80 against the dollar and finally ended the day at 82.84 (provisional), registering a fall of 9 paise from its previous close. During the session, the local unit touched a peak of 82.78 and hit the lowest level of 82.85. On Monday, the rupee had settled at 82.75 against the dollar.