Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Tuesday extended their fall for the second straight session amid across-the-board sell-off in global markets. The domestic indices declined almost 1 per cent each as investors were cautious ahead of the release of retail inflation and factory output data.
The BSE Sensex opened on a weak note and declined 509 points (0.94 per cent) to end at 53,886, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 157 points (0.97 per cent) to settle at 16,058.
On 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, Nestle India, HCL Technologies, Hindustan Unilever, M&M, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major losers. On the flipside, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, and Bajaj Finance emerged as the gainers.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the benchmark indices as they shed just 0.5 per cent.
On NSE, 14 out of the 15 sector gauges settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Auto, Nifty IT, Nifty Metal and Nifty FMCG underperformed the NSE platform by falling as much as 1.18 per cent, 1.16 per cent, 1.22 per cent and 1.14 per cent. Nifty Realty edged 0.10 per cent higher.
The overall market breadth stood negative as 1,481 shares advanced, while 1,816 declined on the BSE.
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 the global markets, US stock futures were down ahead of the US consumer price index (CPI) reading, due on Wednesday. An uptick in inflation figure suggests more aggressive policy tightening from the central banks.
In Asia, markets in Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong ended in the red.
Stock markets in Europe were also trading lower in mid-session deals. The US markets had ended with losses on Monday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 2.37 per cent to $104.6 per barrel.
Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 170.51 crore, as per exchange data.