Markets settle lower for 2nd straight day amid bearish trend overseas
Mumbai: Equity indices chalked up losses for the second straight session on Monday, in tandem with a bearish trend overseas as ratcheting up of hostilities in Ukraine and prospects of further rate hikes by the US Fed soured global risk sentiment.
The rupee slipping to another all-time low against the US dollar amid foreign fund outflows added to the gloom, traders said.
After tumbling over 800 points in intra-day trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex clawed back some lost ground to end 200.18 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 57,991.11.
On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty fell 73.65 points or 0.43 per cent to end at 17,241.
Asian Paints was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, dropping 1.99 per cent, followed by Titan, ITC, Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, HDFC and Nestle India.
In contrast, Axis Bank topped the gainers' chart with a jump of 2.76 per cent, while TCS spurted 1.84 per cent ahead of its results. Maruti, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technologies were among the other winners.
The market breadth was negative, with 19 of the 30 Sensex components posting losses. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge fell by 0.87 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.58 per cent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables fell by 1.43 per cent, followed by power (1.30 per cent), utilities (1.12 per cent), FMCG (1.01 per cent), realty (0.98 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.88 per cent). IT and teck ended in the positive zone.
World markets wavered after Kremlin ramped up bombings in Ukraine in an apparent retaliation against an explosion on the bridge connecting Russian mainland to Crimea.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the negative territory.
Stock exchanges in Europe were also trading mostly lower in mid-session deals. The US markets had ended deep in the red on Friday.
Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude futures declined 0.80 per cent to $97.14 per barrel.
The rupee slipped 10 paise to finish at a fresh lifetime low of 82.40 against the US dollar on Monday, weighed down by risk-averse sentiment among investors.
