Equities extend losses amid global headwinds; IT skids

MUMBAI: Market benchmarks racked up losses for the second straight session on Tuesday, in tandem with a lacklustre trend in global equities as worries about economic recovery and inflation kept sentiment subdued. A weak rupee and persistent foreign fund outflows further weighed on the bourses, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened higher but could not carry forward the momentum in see-saw trade. It finally closed 236 points or 0.43% lower at 54,052.61. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dropped 89.55 points or 0.55% to end at 16,125.15. The market breadth was negative, with 20 of the 30 Sensex shares closing in the red.

Tech Mahindra was the top laggard among the Sensex constituents, slipping 3.92%, followed by HUL, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, NTPC, Infosys, Tata Steel and Axis Bank.

The major gainers were Dr Reddy’s, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid, Nestle India, and M&M, climbing up to 1.80%.

Anxiety of slowing economy and rising interest rates underpinned by soaring inflation continued to haunt the global market. The UK and Eurozone composite PMI registered the slowest rise in business activity in the month of May, worsening global investor risk sentiment.

“On the domestic front, while all major sectors succumbed to the pressure, the auto sector bucked the market trend this month gaining on fuel price cut and rise in steel custom duty,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 1.14 per cent while the midcap index dipped 0.85%.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT tanked 1.75%, followed by utilities (1.70%), teck (1.64%) and power (1.64%). Finance and bank ended with marginal gains.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended with losses. Exchanges in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon trade.

Stock markets in the US had ended higher on Monday.