Sensex ends 145 points lower, Nifty manages to hold 10,600, IT stocks drag

Benchmark Sensex nursed losses for the ninth session on the trot on Tuesday following a bruising sell-off in IT stocks amid unabated foreign fund outflows. Lacklustre global cues and rising geopolitical instability further soured risk sentiment, analysts said. The 30-share BSE Sensex, which opened in the positive zone, suddenly dived in late afternoon trade amid heavy selling in IT and financial counters. It finally finished at 35,352.61, down by 145.83 points, or 0.41 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty declined 36.60 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 10,604.35. TCS was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 3.39 per cent, followed by NTPC, IndusInd Bank and Infosys. On the other hand, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, ONGC, M&M, L&T, Tata Steel, SBI and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers, rising up to 3.38 per cent.

"The fall was mainly due to the sudden fall in the IT stocks like TCS, Wipro and Infosys. "There is a certain level of inaction stemming from the European economic numbers indicating a slowdown in growth, and an enhanced rhetoric in the sub-continent on the Indo-Pak relations," said Joseph Thomas, Head Research - Emkay Wealth Management.

Sectorally, the BSE IT index lost the most, shedding 2.09 per cent, followed by power and utilities.

Metal, telecom, auto and realty indices, however, ended in the green.

Broader indices outperformed benchmark indices, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap rising up to 0.55 per cent. Investor sentiment also turned negative on heavy selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), traders said.

FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 1,239.79 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,336.74 crore on Monday, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Globally, equities slipped from four-month highs even as US and China moved ahead with their trade talks.

In Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.42 per cent and Korea's Kospi fell 0.24 per cent. Japan's Nikkei ended 0.09 per cent up and Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.04 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.12 per cent, Paris CAC 40 fell 0.40 per cent, and London's FTSE shed 0.55 per cent in early deals.

Meanwhile, the domestic currency derivatives markets were closed on account of Chhatrapati Shivaji Jayanti.

Brent crude futures were trading 0.29 per cent lower at USD 66.31 per barrel.