Stock market today: Domestic blue-chip indexes Nifty 50 and Sensex closed in the red on Tuesday, January 16, weighed by a pullback in information technology (IT) stocks after a recent rally. Further, sentiment also took a hit due to weak global cues. Pausing the five-day rally, the Nifty index ended 65.15 points, or 0.29 per cent, lower at 22,032.3, and the Sensex finished the day 199.17 points, or 0.27 per cent, lower at 73,128.77.

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IT stocks took a breather. The Nifty IT index shed 1.28 per cent or 474.85 points, to end at 36,727.1 after jumping 7.1 per cent in the last two sessions on the back of better-than-expected results from the top four software companies. Divi's, HCLTech, NTPC, Wipro and Infosys were among the top losers in the Nifty basket, down around two per cent. On the other hand, BPCL, Tata Steel, Titan, ITC and Maruti Suzuki were among the top gainers, trading with gains of around 2-1 per cent.

"The broad market exhibited profit booking following a good performance by the IT sector amid weak global cues. Investors are contemplating whether the current euphoria in markets has gone farfetched, especially with elevated domestic valuations in mid & small caps," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.

"FII flows are mixed due to a lack of fresh triggers. Oil prices stayed firm amid undeterred geopolitical tensions. The latest IIP growth signals near-term softness," he added.

Nifty Bank settled flat at 48,125.10, down 33.2 points, or 0.07 per cent, ahead of the much-awaited Q3 result of heavyweight HDFC Bank. Nifty Small Cap 100 and Nifty Mid Cap 100 finished the day 0.48 per cent and 0.36 per cent lower, respectively.

Global Market

European shares opened lower on Tuesday as investors reined in expectations of interest rate cuts following recent comments from European Central Bank officials, while shares of Lindt & Spruengli jumped on upbeat results.

The pan-European STOXX 600 moved 0.4 per cent lower by 0920 GMT, hitting its lowest intra-day level in over a month. French central bank Governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau said in Davos that the ECB cannot yet declare victory over inflation, but its next move is likely to be an interest rate cut sometime this year, adding to the slew of comments from policymakers recently to push back rate cut expectations.

Asian markets fell ahead of quarterly gross domestic product data from China, due on Wednesday.

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