Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty ended in the negative terrain for the third session in a row on Tuesday as financial and auto stocks faced high selling pressure, while constant rise in crude oil prices reignited macro worries.
In a highly volatile session, the BSE Sensex hit an high of 38,832.61 and a low of 38,518.26. After swinging over 300 points, the 30-share index settled 80.30 points, or 0.21%, lower at 38,564.88.
The broader NSE Nifty too slipped 18.50 points, or 0.16%, to close at 11,575.95. It also saw an intra-day movement of 81.50 points.
In the Sensex pack, Maruti was the biggest loser, shedding 3.60%. Other major laggards were Yes Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Steel, Hero MotoCorp and NTPC — ending up to 2.33% lower.
On the other hand, ONGC, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Coal India, Reliance Industries, Infosys, ITC, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech and HUL rose as much as 3.93%.
Investor sentiment took a beating after U.S. President Donald Trump on April 22 decided not to grant sanctions exemptions to any oil customers of Iran, further squeezing Tehran’s top export commodity. This move could have implications on India’s energy security, experts said.
Global benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.62% higher at $74.50 per barrel after
The rupee, meanwhile, weakened by 7 paise to 69.74 against the U.S. dollar intra-day.
Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased equity worth ₹73.08 crore on April 22, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold shares to the tune of ₹68.16 crore, provisional data available with stock exchanges showed.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in China, South Korea and Japan ended on a choppy note.
After a long Easter weekend, European equites started off on Tuesday on a mixed note.
