Equity benchmarks snap two-day gain; settle lower

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices snapped two days of rally to settle lower on Tuesday amid unabated foreign fund outflows and escalating tensions in the Middle East. Besides, investors were cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision. The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 237.72 points or 0.37 per cent to settle at 63,874.93. During the day, it fell 300.12 points or 0.46 per cent to 63,812.53. The Nifty dipped 61.30 points or 0.32 per cent to 19,079.60.

Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank were among the major laggards. Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Nestle and Power Grid were the major gainers. "Modest cautiousness returned post yesterday's bounce, ahead of the US Fed policy meeting, dragging Asian and developed markets. The Fed is widely expected to keep rates unchanged, and the commentary on the future path will be the crucial factor to influence further direction," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge gained 0.29 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.02 per cent. Among the indices, auto fell 0.58 per cent, services declined 0.53 per cent, teck (0.29 per cent), metal (0.24 per cent), IT (0.19 per cent), oil & gas (0.18 per cent) and industrials (0.16 per cent). Commodities, utilities, consumer durables and realty were the gainers. "Markets edged marginally lower in a dull session, taking a breather after the recent rebound," Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Tokyo ended in the green. European markets were trading in the positive territory. The US markets ended significantly higher on Monday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.93 per cent to USD 88.31 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 696.02 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. The BSE benchmark jumped 329.85 points or 0.52 per cent to settle at 64,112.65 on Monday. The Nifty advanced 93.65 points or 0.49 per cent to 19,140.90.