Markets fall after 2-day rally

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended lower on Tuesday after two days of rally, dragged down by index majors HDFC twins and Reliance Industries.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 413.24 points or 0.66 per cent to settle at 61,932.47 even after beginning the trade on a firm note. During the day, it fell 498.3 points or 0.79 per cent to 61,847.41. The NSE Nifty went lower by 112.35 points or 0.61 per cent to end at 18,286.50.

Among the Sensex firms, HDFC, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, Reliance Industries and Maruti were the biggest laggards.

Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Titan, Infosys, Bajaj Finserv, Wipro, Asian Paints and Tata Consultancy Services were among the major gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge gained 0.18 per cent and smallcap index climbed 0.12 per cent.

Among the indices, auto declined 0.97 per cent, financial services fell by 0.53 per cent, consumer discretionary (0.38 per cent), bankex (0.36 per cent) and commodities (0.34 per cent).

Industrials, IT, telecommunication, capital goods, oil & gas and power were the gainers.

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

European markets were trading mostly in the green. The US market had ended with gains on Monday.