Stock Market: Sensex Drops 140 Points; Nifty Closes Around 19,700. Auto, Metal Drag; IT Shines

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finance, M&M UltraCemco, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, HUL emerged main losers. Airtel, HCLTech, Wipro, TechM, TCS, Maruti were among gainers.

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Monday closed in the negative zone for second consecutive session. The S&P BSE Sensex, which swung 296 points intraday, closed 140 points down to 65,655. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 19,694, down 38 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Bajaj Finance, M&M UltraCemco, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Motors, HUL emerged main losers. On the flip side, Airtel, HCLTech, Wipro, TechM, TCS, Maruti were among gainers.

A total of 1,784 shares gained, 1,864 shares declined, while 146 shares unchanged.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index ended flat, down 0.06 per cent; while the BSE Smallcap index gained 0.4 per cent.

Sectorwise, Information Technology index rose 0.6 per cent and healthcare index up 0.3 per cent. Nifty Auto index declined 0.77 per cent, the Nifty Media dropped 0.53 per cent, the Nifty Metal dipped 0.48 per cent, and the Nifty FMCG index fell 0.40 per cent.

In the previous session on Friday, the S&P BSE Sensex closed 188 points lower at 65,795 levels, while the NSE Nifty50 closed at 19,732, down 33 points.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong settled in the green, while Tokyo closed in the red. European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended with marginal gains on Friday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.74 per cent to $81.21 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 477.76 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the Indian rupee fell by 9 paise to settle at its all-time low of 83.35 against the US dollar on Monday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities. Foreign fund outflows also weighed on the local unit, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.25 and settled at its lifetime low level of 83.35 against the dollar, registering a fall of 9 paise from its previous close. On Friday, the rupee settled at 83.26 against the American currency. Earlier, the rupee closed at its lowest level of 83.33 against the dollar on November 13, this year.