Investors stay on sidelines amid uncertainty

Mumbai: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower on Tuesday as uninterrupted foreign fund outflows and lower-than-expected corporate earnings continued to hit investors’ sentiment. After a day’s breather, the 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex ended 29.47 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 75,967.39. Intra-day, it dropped 465.85 points or 0.61 per cent to 75,531.01. The NSE Nifty dipped 14.20 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 22,945.30.

“On Tuesday, the Indian blue-chip equity indices, Sensex and Nifty-50, closed with a slight decline, primarily due to a slowdown in earnings and concerns over ongoing foreign selling, which affected market sentiment,” said Ameya Ranadive, Chartered Market Technician, CFTe, Sr Technical Analyst, StoxBox.

The BSE smallcap gauge dropped 1.71 per cent and midcap index declined 0.19 per cent.

“The domestic market has experienced both profit-booking and bottom-fishing amid persistent concerns over FII outflows and pressure on the INR. Small and midcap stocks continue to lag due to apprehensions about premium valuations. Meanwhile, India's trade deficit has widened beyond expectations, driven by rising imports due to depreciating domestic currency and surging commodity prices,” Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.