Stock markets stumble after early gains; Sensex loses 166 pts, Nifty ends below 24,000 mark

Mumbai: Stock markets surrendered early gains and settled lower in volatile trade on Tuesday with Sensex losing 166 points and Nifty ending below the 24,000 level due to fag-end selling in banking and telecom stocks.

Falling for the third straight day, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled at 78,593.07, down 166.33 points or 0.21 per cent, as 17 of its constituents declined and 13 gained.

The index opened sharply higher and rallied further 1,092.68 points or 1.38 per cent to a high of 79,852.08 on value-buying by investors driven by a rebound in Japanese and other Asian stocks.

However, the barometer faltered later and hit a low of 78,496.57 as banking shares came under selling pressure ahead of the RBI policy decision on Thursday.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined 63.05 points or 0.26 per cent to settle below the 24,000 level at 23,992.55. The index surged 327 points or 1.35 per cent to 24,382.60 in intra-day trade but failed to hold onto gains.

Sensex and Nifty has declined for the third straight day, losing more than 4 per cent as weak jobs data fanned fears of possible recession in the US market.

"The domestic market tried to rebound mirroring the Asian markets. However, momentum was short-lived and closed below the threshold level of 24,000. Investors are watching the appreciating Yen, weak US economic data, and rising geopolitical tensions," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

From the Sensex pack, State Bank of India, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, Titan, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance were the biggest laggards.

JSW Steel, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies and Reliance Industries were among the gainers from the pack.

"Indian markets started the day on a positive note Tuesday, buoyed by a rebound in other Asian markets, notably Japan, which had experienced their worst downturn since 2008. However, the momentum faded, and about an hour and a half before the close, the markets gave up their gains," Avdhut Bagkar Technical and Derivatives Analyst, StoxBox, said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.71 per cent and smallcap index went lower by 0.57 per cent.

Among the indices, telecommunication dropped 1.15 per cent, financial services by 1.03 per cent, consumer durables by 0.92 per cent, bankex by 0.76 per cent and consumer discretionary by 0.48 per cent.

IT, realty, FMCG and services were the gainers.

"When global markets correct due to the risk off trade, our markets fall in sympathy due to FPI selling. On a fundamental basis, the Yen Carry trade reversal will have a limited impact on India.

"The US recession has a direct impact on our IT / Pharma sectors and remittances. We expect markets to remain volatile due to global uncertainties," Nilesh Shah, Managing Director, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Co Ltd, said.

The RBI Monetary Policy Committee started three-day deliberations on Tuesday. RBI governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the bi-monthly policy on Thursday.

Suman Bannerjee, CIO, Hedonova, said, "Amid persistent inflationary pressures, particularly due to rising food prices, the RBI is expected to maintain the current benchmark rate. This cautious approach is designed to balance economic growth with price stability." Asian markets also rebounded sharply, where Seoul, Tokyo, and Shanghai settled significantly higher. Hong Kong, however ended lower.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 share index soared as much as 10.7 per cent early Tuesday, a day after it plunged the most in 37 years. European markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended with deep cuts on Monday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 10,073.75 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.30 per cent to USD 76.52 a barrel.