Sensex Drops 379 Points on Profit Taking, Foreign Outflows

Mumbai, Jan 2 (PTI) Benchmark Sensex declined by 379 points on Tuesday due to profit-taking in bank, auto and IT shares after recent sharp gains and fresh foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 379.46 points or 0.53 per cent to settle at 71,892.48 with 22 of its constituents ending in the red. The index opened lower and tumbled further by 658.2 points or 0.91 per cent to hit a low of 71,613.74. However, buying in pharma and energy shares helped trim losses.

The broader Nifty declined by 76.10 points or 0.35 per cent to close at 21,665.80. As many as 31 Nifty shares declined while 19 advanced. The index hit a low of 21,555.65 but managed to close above the 21,600 level.

Banking, auto and IT shares succumbed to selling pressure after recent gains while gains in pharma and energy shares capped the damage.

Among the Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra fell the most by 2.78 per cent. UltraTech Cement dropped by 2.46 per cent, Kotak Bank by 2.41 per cent and Larsen & Toubro by 2.36 per cent. ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Wipro and Hindustan Unilever also declined.

Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the winners.

"The market extended yesterday's last hour's sell-off, taking negative cues from Asian peers due to weak Chinese manufacturing data and mounting tensions in the Red Sea, which has the potential to disrupt global trade and crude supplies," Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

"Ahead of the impending results season, investors are adopting a profit booking strategy. Auto stocks declined on below-expected volume numbers, while pharma stocks were the standout due to catch-up in the US economy," Nair added.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.08 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.03 per cent.

Among the indices, capital goods fell 1.42 per cent, auto declined 1.32 per cent, bankex (1.16 per cent), realty (1.04 per cent), IT (1.03 per cent) and teck (0.75 per cent).

Energy, healthcare, services and metal were among the winners.

"Markets traded volatile for yet another session and lost nearly half a per cent, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase," Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

A total of 1,992 stocks advanced while 1,811 declined and 126 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower while Seoul ended in the green. European markets were mostly trading in positive territory.

Asian, European and US markets were closed on Monday for the New Year.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.05 per cent to USD 78.58 a barrel.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 855.80 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

The BSE gauge eked out a modest gain of 31.68 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 72,271.94 after a muted beginning on Monday. The Nifty went up by 10.50 points or 0.05 per cent to 21,741.90.

In 2023, the BSE benchmark jumped 11,399.52 points or 18.73 per cent, and the Nifty climbed 3,626.1 points or 20 per cent.