Sensex, Nifty50 continue to fall for 5th session in a row; Axis Bank tumbles 5%, Nestle India down 2%

Share Market News: Domestic equity benchmarks continued to fall for the fifth consecutive session on Thursday, amid selling pressure in financial and energy shares although buying interest in heavyweights such as Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro. Both headline indices recovered significantly from their intraday lows for a third straight day after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled the Narendra Modi 3.0 government's first Union Budget. 

The Sensex lost 109.1 points, or 0.1 per cent, to end at 80,039.8 while the Nifty50 settled at 24,406.1, down 7.4 points from its previous close. 

While Axis Bank tumbled 5.1 per cent lower after the private sector lender reported a worse-than-expected set of quarterly results, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, Titan, Tata Steel, Shriram Finance, LTIMindtree, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, and ITC - closing between 0.8 per cent and 2.5 per cent lower - were also among the top blue-chip losers.

On the other hand, Tata Motors, ONGC, BPCL, SBI Life, Larsen & Toubro and Sun Pharma - rising between 2.4 per cent and 6.0 per cent - rose the most among the 25 gainers in the 50-scrip basket. 

Among index heavyweights, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, ITC and Titan put the maximum pressure on the market. 

Broader indices underperformed the headline barometers, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and the Nifty Smallcap 100 declining 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent for the day, respectively. 

Overall market breadth was neutral with a positive bias, as 2,049 stocks rose while 1,877 fell on BSE. 

With the Budget now behind, investors awaited the ongoing earnings season to gather steam for domestic cues, with Cipla, Bandhan Bank, SBI Card, DR Reddy's, and ICICI Bank scheduled to report thief financial results this week.  

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