Sensex ends 427 pts lower, Nifty slides to 24,324 as market retreats from record highs

Share Market News: Domestic equity benchmarks first touched and then retreated from all-time highs in a volatile session on Wednesday, as selling pressure in auto and financial stocks outweighed buying interest in consumer scrips. Both headline indices closed about half a per cent lower, with the Sensex losing 426.9 points to 79,924.8 and the Nifty50 shedding 108.8 points to settle at 24,324.5.

Analysts awaited the onset of a new earnings season on Dalal Street for domestic cues, with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) - the country's largest IT company - scheduled to report its financial results for the April-June period on Thursday. 

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) was the worst hit among the 27 losers in the Nifty50 basket, closing 6.7 per cent weaker for the day. Hindalco, Tata Steel, TCS, HCL Tech, Hero MotoCorp and SBI - ending between 1.3 per cent and 2.1 per cent lower - were among the top losers in the 50-scrip pack. 

On the other hand, Asian Paints, SBI Life, Divi's Labs, Britannia, Grasim, NTPC and HDFC Life - ending between 1.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent higher - were the top gainers. 

M&M was the biggest contributor to losses in both indices.

Most sectoral gauges finished the day in negative territory on exchanges, with the Nifty Auto being the worst hit on NSE with a loss of 2.0 per cent. Besides M&M, Tata Motors and Hero MotoCorp were also among the main drags on the auto index.

While the Nifty Bank - whose 12 constituents include SBI, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank - closed 0.7 per cent lower, the PSU bank and private sector barometers fell 1.4 per cent and 0.6 per cent respectively. Financial services stocks enjoy the maximum weightage of more than 34 per cent in the headline Nifty index. 

Broader indices also reflected the overall weakness on Dalal Street, as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 gauges declined 0.3 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.   

Overall market breadth remained extremely negative throughout the session, with the advance-decline ratio recorded at 1:2 at the end of the day as 1,363 stocks rose while 2,576 declined on BSE. 

Catch highlights of the July 10 session on Dalal Street here. For all other news related to business, market, tech and auto, visit Zeebiz.com.