Heavy selling drags down Sensex, Nifty ahead of Budget

MUMBAI: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Monday, dragged down by heavy selling pressure in Reliance Industries and Kotak Mahindra Bank ahead of the Budget.

Besides, a weak trend in global equity markets also hit investors sentiment, traders said.

Falling for the second day in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 102.57 points or 0.13% to settle at 80,502.08. During the session, it tanked 504 points or 0.62% to 80,100.65.

The NSE Nifty dipped 21.65 points or 0.09% to 24,509.25. During the day, it dropped 168.6 points or 0.68% to 24,362.30.

Among the Sensex pack, Reliance Industries declined over 3% after the company reported a 5% drop in its June quarter net profit. Kotak Mahindra Bank also fell more than 3% after its June quarter earnings failed to cheer investors. ITC, State Bank of India, HCL Technologies and IndusInd Bank were the other big laggards.

NTPC, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank and Mahindra &

Mahindra were among the gainers. HDFC Bank climbed over 2% after the company’s consolidated net profit grew 33.17% to ₹16,474.85 crore in the June 2024 quarter.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai settled lower, while Hong Kong ended in the positive territory.

European markets were trading higher in the mid-session deals. US markets ended lower in overnight trade on Friday.According to the Economic Survey, 2023-24 tabled in Parliament on Monday, capital markets are becoming more prominent in India’s growth story, with an expanding share in capital formation and investment landscape on the back of technology, innovation and digitisation.

Further, Indian markets are resilient to global geo-political and economic shocks, it added.

“Despite heightened geo-political risks, rising interest rates and volatile commodity prices,

Indian capital markets have been one of the best performing among emerging markets in FY24,” the Economic Survey said.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.08% to $82.53 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors bought equities worth ₹1,506.12 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

The BSE benchmark hit its new all-time high of 81,587.76 in the initial trade on Friday but failed to carry forward the winning momentum and tanked 738.81 points or 0.91% to settle below the 81,000 mark at 80,604.65.

A WEAK TREND IN GLOBAL EQUITY MARKETS ALSO HIT INVESTORS SENTIMENT