Sensex, Nifty Fall to 2-Month Lows: Banking, Auto Lead Declines

Mumbai, Oct 17 (PTI) Falling for the third straight day, benchmark Sensex lost nearly 495 points on Thursday to close at a nearly two-month low due to selling in select banking, auto and realty shares and foreign fund outflows.

The 30-share Sensex tanked 494.75 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 81,006.61, the lowest closing level since August 21, 2024. During the day, the barometer tumbled 595.72 points or 0.73 per cent to 80,905.64.

As many as 21 Sensex stocks closed in red and nine with gains.

The broader 50-issue Nifty slumped 221.45 points or 0.89 per cent to settle at 24,749.85 as 41 of its constituents declined.

Analysts said intense selling in realty, auto, consumer discretionary and consumer durable stocks dragged the markets down.

Among Sensex firms, Nestle declined the most by over 3 per cent after the FMCG major reported a drop in its net profit to Rs 899.49 crore for the second quarter that ended September 2024, as some of its key brands faced softer consumer demand and high commodity prices.

Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Maruti, Axis Bank and Tata Steel were among the other big laggards.

However, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Power Grid, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were among the biggest gainers.

"The domestic market experienced significant losses driven by widespread selloffs across various sectors, notably auto, realty, consumer durables and finance. This downturn was attributed to weaker sales forecasts for the festive season, high NPAs and slow credit growth. Weak Q2 result is affecting the market sentiment," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 1.65 per cent and smallcap index fell 1.42 per cent.

Among the indices, realty tumbled 3.76 per cent, auto (3.48 per cent), consumer discretionary (2.45 per cent), consumer durables (2.28 per cent), commodities (1.77 per cent), oil & gas (1.54 per cent) and power (1.48 per cent).

BSE IT and teck emerged as the only gainers.

The negative sentiment persisted from the start, primarily due to a steep decline in auto stocks following Bajaj Auto's numbers.

"The situation worsened as banking heavyweights also came under pressure, though resilience in the IT sector helped limit the decline," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

Vikram Kasat, Head - Advisory, PL Capital - Prabhudas Lilladher said, “As the Nifty 50 and Sensex fell for the third consecutive session, investor sentiment remains cautious, keeping an eye on both domestic and international factors that could influence market stability in the coming days."

A total of 2,690 stocks declined while 1,272 advanced and 102 remained unchanged on the BSE.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 3,435.94 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading higher in mid-session deals. The US markets ended in positive territory on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.27 per cent to USD 74.42 a barrel.