Sensex falls 78 pts on profit taking in IT & banking shares, FII outflows

Mumbai: Benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 78 points in a listless trade on Tuesday due to select profit taking in IT and banking shares in line with weak Asian markets and continuous foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 78.22 points or 0.12 per cent to settle at 65,945.47 with 14 of its components closing lower and 16 advancing. During the day, it declined 158.06 points or 0.23 per cent to a low of 65,865.63.

The broader Nifty dipped 9.85 points or 0.05 per cent to end at 19,664.70. As many as 23 Nifty shares declined while 27 closed in the green.

Among Sensex shares, IndusInd Bank fell the most by 1.29 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra (1.28 per cent), Kotak Bank (1.24 per cent) and Infosys (1 per cent).

Asian Paints, ICICI Bank, Titan, and Bajaj Finserv were among the losers.

On the other hand, Nestle India rose the most by 1.58 per cent. Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and Tata Consultancy Services were among the gainers.

"Markets witnessed a listless trading session and lingered in negative territory for most part of the trading session due to weak Asian and European cues. Traders resorted to selective profit-taking ahead of the next week's RBI policy outcome, while external factors like strength in dollar index and rising treasury yields continue to dampen sentiment," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge dipped 0.09 per cent and the smallcap index climbed 0.33 per cent.

Among the indices, IT fell 0.46 per cent, bankex declined 0.45 per cent, teck (0.36 per cent), consumer durables (0.23 per cent) and financial services (0.21 per cent).

Commodities, consumer discretionary, FMCG, industrials and telecommunication were among the gainers.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Trading remained flat as headwinds from the global market and continued selling by FIIs kept domestic investors under vigil.

"While bargain hunting was visible in small-cap stocks due to the recent correction and favourable valuation compared to large and mid-caps, IT indices slid due to the fear of one more rate hike by the FED and a consequent reduction in spending." In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended in positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.79 per cent to USD 92.55 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,333.03 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.