Profit booking snaps 3-day rally

Mumbai: Equity benchmark indices snapped three days of rally to settle marginally lower on Tuesday amid weak trends in Asian and European markets along with unabated foreign fund outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 16.29 points or 0.03 per cent to settle at 64,942.40. During the day, it declined 320.59 points or 0.49 per cent to 64,638.10. The Nifty slipped 5.05 points or 0.03 per cent to 19,406.70.

“The market witnessed some resistance at higher levels as caution prevails due to the start of the key state elections, and further negative global cues on account of a more than expected fall in Chinese exports, highlighting a continued slowdown in global trade. Despite the extension of supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, crude oil prices moderated, a positive for India in the midst of geopolitical tension. This, along with the moderation in the US bond yields and the positive ongoing earnings season, will support long-term returns,” said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

Among the Sensex firms, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, ITC, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Bharti Airtel were the major laggards. Sun Pharma, NTPC, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank were the major gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.53 per cent and smallcap index advanced 0.38 per cent. Among the indices, realty declined 1.21 per cent, auto dipped 0.19 per cent, consumer durables (0.08 per cent), metal (0.04 per cent) and teck (0.03 per cent). Oil & Gas jumped 1.11 per cent, healthcare climbed 1.06 per cent, bankex (0.49 per cent), energy (0.45 per cent) and services (0.22 per cent). In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the negative territory.