Sensex falls below 72K mark on profit-taking in bank & IT stocks

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex declined by 379 points on Tuesday due to profit-taking in bank, auto and IT shares after recent sharp gains and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 379.46 points or 0.53 per cent to settle at 71,892.48 with 22 of its constituents ending in the red. The index opened lower and tumbled further by 658.2 points or 0.91 per cent to hit a low of 71,613.74. However, buying in pharma and energy shares helped trim losses.

The broader Nifty declined by 76.10 points or 0.35 per cent to close at 21,665.80. As many as 31 Nifty shares declined while 19 advanced. The index hit a low of 21,555.65 but managed to close above the 21,600 level.

Banking, auto and IT shares succumbed to selling pressure after recent gains while gains in pharma and energy shares capped the damage.

Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra fell the most by 2.78 per cent. UltraTech Cement dropped by 2.46 per cent, Kotak Bank by 2.41 per cent and Larsen & Toubro by 2.36 per cent. ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Wipro and Hindustan Unilever also declined.

Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the winners.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.08 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.03 per cent.

Among the indices, capital goods fell 1.42 per cent, auto declined 1.32 per cent, bankex (1.16 per cent), realty (1.04 per cent), IT (1.03 per cent) and teck (0.75 per cent).

Energy, healthcare, services and metal were among the winners.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Seoul ended in the green. European markets were mostly trading in positive territory.

Asian, European and US markets were closed on Monday for the New Year.

A total of 1,992 stocks advanced while 1,811 declined and 126 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The BSE gauge eked out a modest gain of 31.68 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 72,271.94 after a muted beginning on Monday. The Nifty went up by 10.50 points or 0.05 per cent to 21,741.90.