Stock Market: Sensex Falls 178 Points, Nifty Holds 16,150; Metal Index Drops 2 Per Cent

Stock update: Tata Steel, HDFC, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, and Nestle were the major losers in the large-cap space, falling up to 2 per cent in morning trade on the BSE

Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Tuesday opened trade in the red amid profit booking in metal and financial services’ stocks.

At 10.30 am, the BSE Sensex was down 178 points at 54,217, while the broader NSE Nifty was trading at 16,156, down 60 points.

On the 30-share BSE platform, Tata Steel, HDFC, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, and Nestle were the major losers in the large-cap space, falling up to 2 per cent in morning trade. NTPC, Dr Reddy's Labs, Axis Bank, TCS, Bharti Airtel, and SBI, meanwhile, eked out nominal gains.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices gained up to 0.2 per cent.

Sectorwise, the Nifty Metal index cracked 2 per cent, while the Nifty Realty, FMCG, and Financial Services indices slipped 0.5 per cent each. The Nifty IT and PSU bank indices, on the other hand, traded higher.

In their previous session on Monday, the BSE benchmark declined 86.61 points to settle at 54,395, while the Nifty dipped 4.60 points to 16,216.

In Asian markets, Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul, and Hong Kong were trading lower. The US markets had ended lower on Monday.

"Caution will be the buzzword for today’s trading as overnight US benchmark indices faltered while other Asian gauges too have retreated sharply in early trades. While there seems to be no respite from FII selling, DIIs too joined the bandwagon and offloaded shares in yesterday's trades, selling to the tune of Rs 170 crore and Rs 297 crore, respectively. Although the selling was not that aggressive, it's enough to dent bullish sentiments," said Prashanth Tapse, vice-president (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell 13 paise to 79.58 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday as strong American currency overseas and losses in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.

Besides, persistent foreign fund outflows and elevated crude oil prices kept the pressure on the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened lower at 79.55 against the American dollar and slipped further to quote at 79.58, a decline of 13 paise over its last close.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 1.48 per cent to $105.52 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Monday as they sold shares worth Rs 170.51 crore, as per exchange data.