Stock Market: Sensex Sheds 48 Points, Nifty Holds 17,650; Banks, FMCG Stock Worst Hit

Stock Market: Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, and Nestle were among the major losers on the Sensex

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday closed modestly lower on Tuesday after investors offloaded FMCG, IT, and banking stocks in the last hour of trade amid mixed global cues and high volatility. The domestic indices were oscillating between gains and losses throughout the trading session, eventually they settled in the red. The selling pressure emerged towards the fag-end of the session.

After rising over 320 points in intra-day trade, the BSE Sensex pared all gains to end 48 points (0.08 per cent) lower at 59,196. During the day, it hit a high of 59,566 and a low of 58,974. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty also slipped 10 points (0.06 per cent) to 17,655.

On 30-share Sensex pltform, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hindustan Unilever, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, and Nestle were among the major losers. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries, and Power Grid were among the major gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap index edged 0.5 per cent higher, and the BSE SmallCap index adde 0.1 per cent.

Sectorwise, the Nifty Private Bank and FMCG indices were worst hit, down 0.5 per cent each. On the contrary, the Nifty Metal index climbed over 1 per cent.

Among stocks, DreamFolks Services made a strong stock market debut as its shares got listed at Rs 508.70, a 56 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 326 per share on the NSE on Tuesday.

On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 505, a 55 per cent premium over its issue price. The stock hit a high of Rs 550 on the BSE, and ended at Rs 463 per share, up 42 per cent higher against the issue price.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE benchmark jumped 442 points (0.75 per cent) to settle at 59,245, the Nifty advanced 126 points (0.72 per cent) to 17,665.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai ended in the green, while Hong Kong settled lower.Equities in Europe were trading higher during the mid-session deals. The US markets were closed on Monday.

"Domestic indices wiped out its early gains to close flat, tracking mixed global cues," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "Nifty failed to capitalise on the early gain as profit-taking happened," said Rupak De, senior technical analyst, LKP Securities. 

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 2.37 per cent to $93.47 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 811.75 crore on Monday, as per the exchange data.