Profit taking keeps mkts in red

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex declined by 379 points on Tuesday due to profit-taking in bank, auto and IT shares after recent sharp gains and fresh foreign fund outflows. The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 379.46 points or 0.53 per cent to settle at 71,892.48 with 22 of its constituents ending in the red. The index opened lower and tumbled further by 658.2 points or 0.91 per cent to hit a low of 71,613.74 points. However, buying in pharma and energy shares helped trim losses. The broader Nifty declined by 76.10 points or 0.35 per cent to close at 21,665.80 points. As many as 31 Nifty shares declined, while 19 advanced. The index hit a low of 21,555.65 points, but managed to close above the 21,600 level.

“The market extended yesterday’s last hour’s sell-off, taking negative cues from Asian peers due to weak Chinese manufacturing data and mounting tensions in the Red Sea, which has the potential to disrupt global trade and crude supplies,” said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

“Ahead of the impending results season, investors are adopting a profit booking strategy. Auto stocks declined on below-expected volume numbers, while pharma stocks were the standout due to catch-up in the US economy,” Nair added.

“Markets traded volatile for yet another session and lost nearly half a per cent, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase,” said Ajit Mishra, SV-P (technical research), Religare Broking Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.08 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.03 per cent. Among the indices, capital goods fell 1.42 per cent, auto declined 1.32 per cent, bankex (1.16 per cent), realty (1.04 per cent), IT (1.03 per cent) and teck (0.75 per cent). Energy, healthcare, services and metal were among the winners.