Sensex, Nifty close in negative territory as investors await RBI's rate decision

Indian equities ended in the negative territory on Tuesday as traders booked profit and investors awaited the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) decision on interest rates later this week. The BSE S&P Sensex closed 184 points down at 40,084 while the Nifty 50 lost 67 points to 12,022. At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), all sectoral indices were in the red except for Nifty metal and PSU bank.

Among stocks, Zee Entertainment was a prominent loser with a 3.7 percent decline. Hero MotorCorp slipped 2.9 per cent, Asian paints 2.5 per cent, Dr Reddy 2.4 per cent and Bharat Petroleum Corporation 2.3 per cent. Jubilant Life Sciences extended declines for the third consecutive trading session and lost 5.8 per cent. Other pharma stocks like Dr Reddy's, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Lal PathLabs, and Biocon also fell. However, shares of PSU banks traded in the positive following reports that the Finance Ministry is expected to infuse Rs 40,000 crore to increase their lending capacity and strengthen balance sheets.

Shares of GE Power India soared 2.3 per cent intraday after the company bagged an order worth Rs 738 crore from Aravali Power. The slowdown in economy during January to March quarter has raised prospects of a rate cut by RBI. With inflation subdued at 2.92 per cent in April -- well below the RBI's medium-term target of 4 per cent -- investors hope the central bank can cut repo rate by 50 basis points to encourage private investments and consumer spending. Meanwhile, most Asian stocks were on a weak ground after a technology rout sank Nasdaq shares overnight. Equity benchmarks edged down in Japan, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea.

A day earlier on another side of the globe, there was a volatile Wall Street session as US manufacturing growth eased in May to its weakest pace in more than two-and-a-half years. Besides, investors were concerned over intensifying US-China trade war with US President Donald Trump's administration saying that Beijing was pursuing a blame game in recent public statements.

(With inputs from agencies.)