Stock Market Decline: FII Outflows & H-1B Concerns

Mumbai, Sep 23 (PTI) Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower for the third consecutive day on Tuesday in a volatile trade, dragged by selling in IT and blue-chip private banking shares and foreign fund outflows amid concerns over the steep hike in US H-1B visa fees.

After oscillating between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 57.87 points or 0.07 per cent at 82,102.10. During the day, it hit a high of 82,370.38 and a low of 81,776.53, fluctuating by 593.85 points.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 32.85 points or 0.13 per cent to 25,169.50.

Buying in auto and select public sector banks cushioned the losses, analysts said.

Among Sensex firms, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Eternal and ITC were the major laggards. Selling in HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank also dragged the key indices.

However, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

"The domestic equity market traded rangebound and ended flat, indicating continuation of the consolidation. Broader sentiment stayed cautious, with small- and mid-cap stocks lagging the benchmarks," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said.

Sector-wise, autos, metals, and financials gained on signs of robust festive demand post-GST cuts, while FMCG and realty stocks came under pressure from profit booking, Nair added.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,910.09 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng settled lower while South Korea's Kospi ended in positive territory. Equity markets in Japan were closed for a holiday.

Markets in Europe were trading higher. US markets ended higher on Monday.

Meanwhile, the rupee slumped by 52 paise to hit an all-time low of 88.82 against the US dollar in intra-day trade on Tuesday amid sustained outflow of foreign funds.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.45 per cent to USD 66.87 a barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex dropped 466.26 points or 0.56 per cent to settle at 82,159.97. The Nifty declined 124.70 points or 0.49 per cent to 25,202.35.