Sensex Falls 586 pts, Nifty Settles at 16,416 As Investors Book Profit Day Ahead of RBI Policy Outcome

Benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, ended 1 per cent lower on Tuesday as investors booked profit in equities a day ahead of the RBI’s monetary policy outcome. The 10-year government bond yield, meanwhile, ended 0.4 per cent up at 7.53 per cent. The S&P BSE Sensex fell 793 points intra-day before closing 568 points lower at 55,107. The NSE Nifty50, held the crucial 16,400-mark to settle at 16,416, down 153 points.

Consumer durables, realty, IT, and financials were among the worst hit pockets with Titan, UPL, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Britannia, L&T, HUL, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, TCS, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, and Tech M sheding between 1.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent. On the upside, the Nifty Auto, and Oil and Gas indices settled in the green, with ONGC, Coal India, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Tata Motors, Hero MotoCorp, M&M, Bajaj Auto, and BPCL leading from the front.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices dropped up to 0.88 per cent.

Among stocks, PolicyBazaar owner PB Fintech shed over 8 per cent after 38.34 lakh shares (0.85 per cent equity) worth Rs 235.74 crore changed hands. Reports had said the company’s chairman will sell 37 lakh shares of the company.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The volatility in the market is forcing investors to stay sidelined ahead of the RBI’s policy announcement. The market has factored a hike up to 50bps of repo rate & CRR, but any further stricter measures to clamp liquidity due to lingering inflation will have ramifications on the market trend. Apart from the monetary measures, the RBI’s guidance on growth and inflation forecast will determine the market trend.”

Global Cues

US stocks ended a choppy session slightly higher on Monday, helped by gains in Amazon.com and other mega-cap growth shares, while persistent worries over inflation and interest rates kept a lid on the market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 16.08 points, or 0.05 per cent, to 32,915.78, the S&P 500 gained 12.89 points, or 0.31 per cent, to 4,121.43 and the Nasdaq Composite added 48.64 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 12,061.37.

Tokyo shares opened higher Tuesday as the yen trended lower, offering tailwind to exporters, while investors eyed rising US yields. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index added 0.19 per cent, or 53.35 points, to 27,969.24 in morning trade, while the broader Topix index rose 0.56 per cent, or 10.79 points, to 1,949.90.

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