Sensex Ends 509 pts Lower, Nifty Holds 16,050; Eicher Motors Falls 3%

Key benchmark S&P BSE Sensex and Nifty50 indices stayed in the negative territory all through the trading session on Tuesday amid nervousness in the global markets. All but the Nifty Realty index traded with losses, led by auto, IT, and metal counters.

The 30-pack BSE frontline index closed 509 points, or 0.9 per cent lower, at 53,887 after trading between 53,825 and 54,236 during the day. The Nifty50, meanwhile, shut shop at 16,058, down 158 points or 0.97 per cent. It hit a high and a low of 16,159 and 16,031, respectively.

The benchmarks were dragged down by Eicher Motors, Infosys, Hindalco, BPCL, Britannia, Nestle, Power Grid, Grasim, HUL, HCL Tech, Titan, and M&M. All these shares were down between 1.5 per cent and 3 per cent.

On the upside, NTPC, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Coal India, Hero Moto, and Bajaj Finance were the only gainers, up in the range of 0.08 per cent to 1.7 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the benchmark indices as they shed just 0.5 per cent.

Individually, shares of Spandana Sphoorty fell 5 per cent after the company’s consolidated net profit dropped 42 per cent to Rs 28.6 crore in the March quarter (Q4FY22) after one-time settlement fees and transition expenses.

Besides, NMDC declined over 4 per cent amid a correction in metal prices.

Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Rate hike fears are back in focus in the global markets ahead of the release of CPI numbers. Inflationary pressures along with strong US jobs data would keep the Fed on the path of aggressive rate hikes. On the domestic inflation front, retail inflation for the month of June is expected to be at 7.03 per cent, maintaining the previous month’s levels. Demand concerns amid the rebound of virus cases in China compelled crude to trade lower”

Global Cues

Asian shares fell on Tuesday, weighed down by the prospect of further monetary policy tightening by central banks, China’s renewed COVID outbreak and Europe’s energy shortage, which also left the euro a whisker from parity with the safe-haven dollar.