Stock Market: Day Ahead Of RBI MPC, Sensex Down 208 Points, Nifty Settles Below 18,650. PSBs Lead

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Steel was the prime loser, down 2.50 per cent, followed by Dr Reddy, Infosys, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, and others

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, remained weak on Tuesday as nervousness ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) interest rate decision on Wednesday kept investors on the sidelines. The S&P BSE Sensex closed at 62,626, down 208 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 ended at 18,643, down 58 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Tata Steel was the prime loser, down 2.50 per cent, followed by Dr. Reddy, Infosys, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, and others. On the flip side, Hindustan Uniliver, UltraTech Cement, PowerGrid, Nestle, and Axis Bank emerged as major winners.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices shed 0.53 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively. Within the mid- and small-cap space, IDBI, Union Bank, BOI, PSB, and Puravankara Ltd were among the winners.

Sectorwise, the Nifty IT index declined 1.5 per cent, while the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 1.2 per cent.

In the previous session on Monday, S&P BSE Sensex closed at 62,835, down 34 points, while the broader NSE Nifty50 ended at 18,701, up 5 points.

In the Asia markets, Tokyo stocks shed earlier losses and ended higher on Tuesday. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.24 per cent, while the broader Topix index firmed 0.12 per cent. China had a mixed showing and Hong Kong suffered a dip. China's blue-chip CSI 300 Index gained 0.54 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index was flat. Hang Seng Index fell 0.4 per cent.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading lower in the afternoon trade. Wall Street ended in negative territory on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.68 per cent higher at $83.24 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,139.07 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee declined by 76 paise to close at 82.61 against the US dollar on Tuesday due to heavy selling pressure in domestic equities and rising crude prices in the overseas markets.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened weak at 81.94, then slipped further to end at 82.61, registering a fall of 76 paise. During the day, the local unit witnessed an intraday high of 81.94 and a low of 82.63.

In the previous session on Monday, the rupee had settled down by 52 paise at 81.85 against the dollar.