Sensex, Nifty decline ahead of IIP, inflation data releases

Mumbai: Domestic equities ended in the negative terrain for the fourth straight session on Tuesday, with the BSE benchmark Sensex falling over 200 points as investors intensified selling towards the fag end of the day, even as global cues remained positive.

Investors sold heavily on realty, IT, FMCG and banking counters ahead of index of industrial production (IIP) data for December and consumer price inflation (CPI) numbers for January to be released later in the day.

Tepid earnings by some more companies and foreign fund outflows also dampened trading sentiments, brokers said.

After opening on a positive note, the BSE Sensex advanced to hit an intraday high of 36,465.40 points in opening trade, driven by a firming trend at other Asian markets.

However, indices failed to hold on to gains as profit-taking re-emerged in the later part of the session, wiping off initial gains, with the BSE Sensex settling 241.41 points, or 0.66 per cent, down at 36,153.62 points.

The gauge had lost 580 points in the previous three sessions.

The broader Nifty, after touching a high (intra-day) of 10,910,90 points, finished at 10,831.40, down 57.40 points, or 0.53 per cent. It also touched a low of 10,823.80 during the day.

Top losers include Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, SBI, Infosys, HCL Tech, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, ONGC, Bajaj Auto and IndusInd Bank, falling up to 2.63 per cent.

On the other hand, Sun Pharma, Coal India, Tata Steel, NTPC, Asian Paints, Vedanta, M&M and RIL were the gainers, rising up to 2 per cent.

Globally, Asian markets ended higher as investors looked to a new round of US-China trade talks as the world's two largest economies would try to resolve the ongoing tariff tiff.

On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 125.05 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 232.55 crore Monday, provisional data showed.