Markets fall in listless trade amid profit taking in IT & banking stocks, foreign fund 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.

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, tech (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.

The rupee stayed on the downward track for the second straight day to settle 15 paise lower at 83.28 against the US dollar on Tuesday due to a firm greenback against major currencies overseas and persistent foreign capital outflows.