Nifty ends below 18,050, Sensex slips 112 points; broader markets, auto stocks rally

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Indian equity benchmarks settled in the red on Tuesday led by losses in index heavyweights HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance and Axis Bank. A negative trend in global peers also weighed on investor sentiment. However, buying interest was witnessed in the broader markets and auto stocks.

Sensex settled at 60,433.45, down 112.16 points or 0.19%, while the broader NSE Nifty declined 24.30 points or 0.13% to end at 18,044.25.

“After a positive opening, the domestic market traded lower as private banking stocks were under pressure following dull global markets. However, Auto, PSBs and consumer durables climbed against the market trend with small and mid-cap stocks outperforming. Despite the passage of the long-awaited infrastructure bill, the gains in the US market were capped as investors cautiously awaited the US inflation data,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Sectoral strand

Sectorally Nifty Auto zoomed 1.31% on the back of strong numbers posted by Mahindra & Mahindra. While Nifty Realty, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty IT indices were up anywhere between 0.05-0.18%.

On the downside, Nifty FMCG index lost 0.34%, while Nifty Metal and Nifty Bank were down 0.34% and 0.09%, respectively.

The volatility gauge India VIX cooled off further by 1.08% to 16.16.

Broader markets

Unlike benchmark indices, broader markets ended today’s session with strong gains as the BSE MidCap index rallied 218 points or 0.83% to 26,522. Whereas the BSE SmallCap index settled at 29,333 higher by 206 points or 0.71%.

Even the market breadth favoured the bulls as 2,006 stocks advanced while 1,305 declined and 168 remained unchanged.

Global markets

Most European stocks declined while most Asian stocks advanced on Tuesday. Investors are looking ahead to fresh inflation readings in the U.S. in the next few days with the latest producer price index due Tuesday and the consumer price index slated expected on Wednesday.

The U.S. House of Representatives late Friday passed a more than $1 trillion infrastructure bill, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden for his signature. First passed by the Senate in August, the package would provide new funding for transportation, utilities and broadband, among other infrastructure projects.