Markets fall for 2nd day amid heavy selling in oil & banking stocks, fresh foreign fund outflows

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower for a second day on Tuesday as investors remained cautious amid disappointing earnings from IT majors TCS and Infosys.

Fall in index major Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank and fresh foreign fund outflows also dented sentiment.

Reversing its early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 183.74 points or 0.31 per cent to settle at 59,727.01. During the day, it declined 331.45 points or 0.55 per cent to a low of 59,579.30.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 46.70 points or 0.26 per cent to end at 17,660.15.

Among the Sensex firms, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, Titan, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, ITC and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.

HCL Technologies, IndusInd Bank, Wipro, Nestle, Maruti, Larsen & Toubro and Asian Paints were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong ended lower, while Japan Shanghai settled with gains.

European markets were trading with gains during the afternoon trade. The US markets had ended in the positive territory on Monday.

The Sensex had tanked 520.25 points or 0.86 per cent to settle at 59,910.75 on Monday. The Nifty fell 121.15 points or 0.68 per cent to finish at 17,706.85.

The rupee depreciated 3 paise to close at 82.04 against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking negative sentiments in the domestic equities market.

Forex traders said a weak greenback against major currencies and falling crude prices, however, resisted the fall in the domestic unit.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.12 per cent to $84.66 per barrel. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 533.20 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.