Markets settle lower; Sensex falls for third day

Benchmark indices ended the day in the negative territory on Tuesday amid weak global market trends and rising crude prices.Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 208.24 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 62,626.36.

Benchmark indices ended the day in the negative territory on Tuesday amid weak global market trends and rising crude prices.

Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 208.24 points or 0.33 per cent lower at 62,626.36. During the day, it tumbled 444.53 points or 0.70 per cent to 62,390.07.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 58.30 points or 0.31 per cent to end at 18,642.75.

''Bears kept pushing domestic indices lower amid unfavourable global cues, with significant selling in metal and IT stocks. The mood was dampened by renewed concerns over policy tightening by the Fed in response to strong economic data out of the US. However, while easing COVID curbs in China benefited the demand outlook, fresh sanctions on Russian oil further added volatility to global oil markets. Investors at home await the RBI policy meet tomorrow,'' said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Among the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy's, Infosys, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Maruti were the major laggards.

Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid and Nestle were among the winners.

''Markets traded lackluster and lost nearly half a per cent, tracking feeble global cues. After a gap-down start, the Nifty hovered in a narrow range till the end and finally settled at 18,642.75 levels,'' said Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.53 per cent and smallcap index fell 0.32 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, metal fell 1.68 per cent, teck (1.37 per cent), IT (1.36 per cent), telecommunication (1.07 per cent), realty (0.73 per cent) and consumer durables (0.54 per cent).

Energy, FMCG, utilities and power were the winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul and Hong Kong ended lower, while Tokyo and Shanghai settled in the green.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading lower in the afternoon trade. Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.68 per cent higher at USD 83.24 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 1,139.07 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)