From record high to rapid fall: Markets lose steam for 3rd day as FIIs exit

Stock markets declined on Tuesday, with the benchmark Sensex tumbling nearly 504 points due to selling in blue-chip bank stocks and Reliance Industries, and persistent foreign fund outflows. Falling for the third straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 503.63 points or 0.59 per cent to settle at 85,138.27. During the day, the benchmark tanked 588.9 points or 0.68 per cent to hit a low of 85,053. The index had scaled a record high level in intra-day trade in the previous session, but closed lower due to profit booking in the second half. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 143.55 points or 0.55 per cent to 26,032.20.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,171.31 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 2,558.93 crore, according to exchange data.

“FII selling has once again gathered pace and in the last three sessions have sold domestic shares worth more than Rs 6,000 crore. Valuations at elevated levels and delay in the announcement of the Indo-US trade deal are causing a lot of anxiety amongst the investors who are looking at fresh positive triggers. The rupee's downward spiral is also adding to investors discomfort,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

A total of 2,563 stocks declined while 1,586 advanced and 167 remained unchanged on the BSE. In “The decline was primarily driven by a sharp contraction in the IIP data, weakness in the rupee, and caution ahead of the upcoming US Fed and RBI policy decisions later in the week, Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd said.

Among Sensex firms, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bharat Electronics and Larsen & Toubro were the biggest laggards. However, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.

The rupee breached the psychological 90-a-dollar level in intraday trade before settling 46 paise down at an all-time low of 89.99 against the US dollar on Tuesday.

The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.49 per cent and midcap index dipped by 0.14 per cent. Among sectoral indices, services dropped 1.03 per cent, financial services (0.78 per cent), bankex (0.75 per cent), industrials (0.49 per cent) and utilities (0.40 per cent). BSE Telecommunication, consumer durables, teck and auto were the winners.