Markets continue downfall on negative investor sentiment

Mumbai: Equity benchmarks languished for the third straight session on Tuesday as financial sector woes, auto sales slump and weak macro data triggered an across-the-board sell-off.

The 30-share BSE Sensex, which opened on a firm footing, crashed over 737 points in late afternoon trade, before finally recouping some losses to finish at 38,305.41, down 361.92 points or 0.94 per cent.

The broader Nifty too underwent bouts of volatility and closed lower by 114.55 points, or 1 per cent, at 11,359.90. The Sensex has now lost 684.33 points, or 1.76 per cent, in three sessions, while the Nifty has dropped 211.30 points, or 1.83 per cent.

Analysts said caution prevails among investors amid a deepening crisis at Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC) and fraud allegations against companies like Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd (IHFL).

"Investors are not expecting a meaningful recovery in festival season due to continued weakness in auto sales. Volatility in banks and fall in rupee also influenced profit booking tendency in the market," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The broader BSE smallcap, midcap and largecap indices underperformed the benchmark, losing up to 1.61 per cent. Sectorally, telecom dropped 4.53 per cent, followed by realty 3.88 per cent, tech 2.20 per cent and IT 1.68 per cent.

Of the 19 sectoral gauges compiled by the BSE, 17 closed in the red. Investors are wary about governance issues in the country's banking sector and its exposure to the stressed real estate industry, analysts said.

On the currency front, the rupee dropped 22 paise to 71.09 against the $ (intra-day). Global crude benchmark Brent Futures rose 0.51 per cent to $59.55 a barrel.