Mumbai: Stock markets tumbled on Tuesday with benchmark Sensex falling by 1,282 points due to profit-taking in IT, auto and private banking shares a day after a record rally.
The 30-share BSE barometer tanked 1,281.68 points or 1.55 per cent to settle at 81,148.22 with 25 of its constituents closing with losses and five with gains. During the day, it fell sharply by 1,386.21 points or 1.68 per cent to 81,043.69.
The broader Nifty of NSE dropped 346.35 points or 1.39 per cent to 24,578.35.
From the Sensex firms, Infosys declined the most by 3.54 per cent. Power Grid dropped 3.4 per cent, Eternal by 3.38 per cent, HCL Tech by 2.94 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 2.88 per cent and Bharti Airtel by 2.74 per cent. IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Maruti, Tata Motors, and M&M were also among the laggards. Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra were the gainers.
Profit-taking was evident across the board, with IT, FMCG, and auto sectors emerging as the top losers, Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
Sensex and Nifty logged their best single-day gains in absolute terms on Monday following buying by retail and foreign investors after India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop military actions and the US and China announced a deal to lower tariffs significantly. The indices raced nearly 4 per cent on Monday on across the board rally.
Broader markets closed with gains on Tuesday with the BSE smallcap gauge jumping 0.99 per cent and midcap index by 0.17 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT tanked 2.44 per cent, teck (2.39 per cent), IT (2.21 per cent), utilities (1.35 per cent), power (1 per cent), metal (0.95 per cent) and oil & gas (0.95 per cent).
Healthcare, industrials, capital goods, services and consumer durables were the gainers. The rupee reversed early gains to settle flat at 85.36 against the US dollar on Tuesday, as rising crude oil prices prompted importers to raise hedging amid weakness in Asian currencies.
FIIs bought equities worth Rs 1,246.48 crore on Monday after a day’s breather, according to exchange data.