Final Trade: Bulls take a breather after 4-day run; Nifty slides to 22,356, Sensex sheds 195 pts dragged by IT and financial stocks

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty50 and Sensex fell on Tuesday, March 5, as bulls took a breather after a four-day run amid a sell-off in IT and financial shares, though gains in auto stocks capped losses. The blue-chip index NSE Nifty 50 shed 0.22 per cent, or 49.3 points, to end at 22,356.3, while the BSE Sensex dropped 0.26 per cent or 195.16 points, to close at 73,677.13.

Heavyweight IT stocks dropped 1.59 per cent on the day after CLSA flagged "more downside risks for fiscal 2025 earnings in the sector due to weak demand outlook". Read more 

Bajaj Twins, Nestle India, Infosys and TCS were among the top losers in the Nifty basket, down nearly 4-2 per cent. On the flip side, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Auto and State Bank of India were among the top gainers, trading with gains of around 4-2 per cent.

The brokerage downgraded Tata Consultancy Services and HCLTech to 'sell' from 'underperform'. TCS and HCLTech fell 1.71 per cent and 1.25 per cent, respectively on close.

The US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's congressional testimony and key labour market data, both due later in the week, will also be crucial for IT companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the United States. 

"The domestic market experienced range bound movement post hitting new record high in the preceding day, influenced by cautious trend in global peers ahead of the Fed Chair's congressional testimony and key US jobs data. The absence of significant stimulus measures from China further dampened sentiment. Mid and small-cap stocks continued to underperform due to their higher valuations," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said. 

"The IT sector sustained recent losses amid concerns over delays in rate cuts by the US Fed. However, PSU banks outperformed, while auto stocks gained momentum supported by healthy volume numbers and pick-up in rural demand," he added.

Nifty Auto gained 1.35 per cent, boosted by a jump in Tata Motors, which announced plans to split into two separate listed companies. The broader, more domestically focussed Nifty SmallCap100 and Nifty MidCap100 fell 1.24 per cent and 0.27 per cent, as concerns persisted over excessive fund inflows into the segments.

Small-cap index constituent IIFL Finance tumbled 20 per cent, a day after RBI ordered the non-bank lender to stop sanctioning, disbursing, and selling gold loans with immediate effect.

GLOBAL MARKET

European shares moved lower on Tuesday as pledges by China to transform its economy amid stuttering growth failed to impress investors, while markets grew cautious ahead of a string of eurozone and US economic data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.3 per cent by 9:10 GMT after settling just below all-time highs on Monday. Basic resources and oil and gas shares declined 0.6 per cent each as a firmer dollar and disappointment from the lack of fresh supportive measures in China sparked concerns over demand and slower consumption.

(with agency inputs)

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