Closing Bell: Markets end in red led by last hour selling pressure; Sensex loses 100 points, Nifty down 24 points on Tuesday

The Indian markets in the last one hour gave up all their gains, to eventually close marginally negative on Tuesday. The Sensex fell over 100 points, while Nifty50 settled above 15800-mark, dragged by almost all sectors, mainly IT as well as banking and financials. 

At the market close, the BSE Sensex was down over 100 points or 0.19 per cent to 53,134 levels, while Nifty50 down 25 points or 0.15 per cent to 15810 levels. Broader markets too joined the downward rally with benchmarks as mid-cap slipped 0.3 per cent and small-cap fell 0.07 per cent. 

As many as 22 stocks advanced and 28 declined on Nifty50 at the close. Shree Cement become the top gainer up nearly 2 per cent, followed by Power Grid up over 1.5 per cent. While Apollo Hospital, ONGC, HUL, and Tata Motors each gained over 1 per cent at the close.

On the contrary, ITC after hitting 3-year high intraday, closed as a top Nifty loser down nearly 2 per cent, followed by HDFC Life down over 1.5 per cent. While Wipro, Maruti, Britannia, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, and L&T each tumbled between 1-1.5 per cent at the market close.

IT stocks weak ahead of Q1 earnings, Nifty IT is top losing index – Infosys, TCS, L&T, HDFC drag nifty while Reliance and HUL support; ONGC snapped losing streak, trades with a minor gain of 1 per cent. While RBL Bank slipped following weak Q1 updates, the bank loses market share.

SRF, TVS, Indiabulls Hsg, Coromandel, Delta, and Mphasis were the top Midcap losers, while SBI Card, Havells, Godrej Consumer, ICICI Lombard, M&M Finance gain in a volatile session on Tuesday.