Stock Market: Sensex Skids 236 Points, Nifty Ends At 16,125 Amid Volatility; IT, Metal Stocks Drag

Stock update: On the BSE, Dr Reddy was the top gainer, up 1.80 per cent, followed by HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, PowerGrid, and others. On the flip side, TechM was the prime laggard, down 3.92 per cent

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, two key equity benchmarks, on Tuesday extended their loss for the second straight session as IT, metal, and pharma stocks slide tracking weakness in global market. The two indices oscillated between gain and loss before settling in the red amid high volatility. The BSE see-sawed a range of 638 points during the day.

The 30-share BSE Sensex finally shut shop at 54,052, down 236 points, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 90 points down to end at 16,125.

On the BSE, Dr Reddy was the top gainer, up 1.80 per cent, followed by HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, PowerGrid, and others. On the flip side, TechM was the prime laggard, down 3.92 per cent, followed by HUL, HCL, Asian Paints, NTPC, Infosys, Tata Steel, and others.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, meanwhile, slipped 0.85 per cent and 1.14 per cent, respectively.

Sectorwise, 10 out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by NSE, settled in the red. Nifty IT and Pharma indices shed 1.4 per cent and 2 per cent, respectively, on the National Stock Exchange, while the Nifty Financial Services index added 0.4 per cent.

In the previous trading on Monday, Sensex had declined 38 points (0.07 per cent) to close at 54,289, while Nifty had moved 51 points (0.32 per cent) down to settle at 16,215.

"Nifty faced selling pressure in the post noon session once again today. It opened flat and rose in the morning. It later came under selling pressure and closed lower for the second consecutive session," said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities.

In Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul, and Tokyo ended lower. While exchanges in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon trade. Stock markets in the US had ended higher on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.46 per cent to $112.9 per barrel.

Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 1,951.17 crore on Monday, as per stock exchange data.

"There is no distinct trend in this whipsaw market. Daily trading for the near-term is fraught with high risk," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services told the PTI.