The Indian stock market ended lower on Tuesday but a big jump in the last hour of trading erased deeper losses on the day. Weakness in FMCG, realty, and banking stocks kept investor sentiment subdued, while select healthcare and metal stocks provided some support.
Key Highlights
- Indian stock market declined despite strong late-session recovery limiting overall losses.
- FMCG and banking stocks dragged markets while healthcare shares outperformed today.
The BSE Sensex and the NSE Nifty 50 ended 210 points and 159 points down respectively at 78,429 and 24,615. The Sensex gave back almost 115 points and the Nifty gained nearly 150 points from the pre-closing levels in the final trading hour of the market session. The market breadth was poor given the recovery as 35 of the 50 Nifty components made red numbers.
FMCG, Realty and Banking Stocks Drag Markets
Consumer goods stocks were the worst hit as Nestlé India dispelled the bull sentiment across the consumer goods space with its cautious remarks. Heavyweight corporates Hindustan Unilever and Tata Consumer Products posted major losses as they expressed concern over the demand and margin pressure in the near term.
Realty stocks also saw widespread selling with Prestige Estates and Oberoi Realty dropping by almost 4% each. The Nifty Bank index slipped 341 points to 57,907 on banking shares, which continued to be under pressure.
The other market indices were also showing a downward trend, with the Nifty Midcap index dropping 188 points to close at 63,492, suggesting that investors were not feeling very confident about the broader market.
Also Read: Sensex and Nifty Extend 4th Winning Streak as Crude Oil Prices Slump
Apollo Hospitals, Ather Energy Shine Amid Weak Market
There were several stocks that performed better in the face of the overall decline. Apollo Hospitals more than doubling in the Nifty to become the biggest winner, while Hindalco Industries pushed its latest rally to close in on almost 3% as metal stocks rallied.
Ather Energy jumped about 15% after reporting robust quarterly results, while Hero MotoCorp extended losses in the electric vehicle sector in general with the individual counter.
The negative was that L.Co. fell 9% although the non-retail part of the government's Offer for Sale (OFS) was fully subscribed, while investors kept their guard up against the additional supply. Despite the release of its June-quarter results, UPL's share price dropped almost 6%, indicating that the markets had already priced it in.
Meanwhile, the Indian rupee closed slightly lower at 95.38 to a US dollar, against 95.34 in the previous session.
The picture was relatively stronger in Asian markets with South Korea's Kospi up 1.6%, China's CSI 300 up more than 1% and Japan's Nikkei 225 closing slightly higher. But, the Indian stock market did not reflect the regional sentiment of optimism as selling pressure and investor caution in different sectors weighed against the benchmarks.
