The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Tuesday dragged by losses in banking, auto, and financial services shares amid weak global cues.
The Sensex fell as much as 432 points and Nifty hit an intraday low of 15,747 but recovered early losses after exit polls indicated that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retaining power in Uttar Pradesh.
The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Tuesday dragged by losses in banking, auto, and financial services shares amid weak global cues.
The Sensex fell as much as 432 points and Nifty hit an intraday low of 15,747 but recovered some early losses after exit polls indicated that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retaining power in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Uttarakhand, and Manipur.
As of 13:52 pm, the Sensex was down 178.8 points at 52,663.95 and the Nifty 50 index slipped 101.35 points to 15,761.
Hopes of stable and sustained economic reforms by the ruling government were on track after exit polls indicated BJP returning to power in Uttar Pradesh which sends the largest number of MPs to Rajya Sabha, analysts said. Exit polls indicated that BJP returning to power with an average of 250 seats in the state assembly. While Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was seen making a majority government in Punjab.
Meanwhile, global markets were trading sharply lower owing to rising oil prices in international markets amid ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.94 per cent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.4 per cent and Taiwan Weighted dropped 2 per cent.
Overnight, Wall Street had its biggest drop in more than a year Monday as another leap for oil prices threatened to squeeze inflation’s grip on the global economy.
The S&P 500 fell 3 per cent, its biggest decline in 16 months, after a barrel of U.S. oil surged to $130 overnight on the possibility the U.S. could bar imports from Russia. Stocks around the world also fell earlier in the day, taking their cue from oil’s movements.
The benchmark S&P 500 fell 122.78 points to 4,201.09. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 797.42 points, or 2.4 per cent, to 32,817.38.
The Nasdaq composite slid 482.48 points, or 3.6 per cent, to 12,830.96. The tech-heavy index is now 20.1 per cent below its record set in November. Such a decline means the index is now in what Wall Street calls a bear market. The S&P 500 is down a more modest 12.4 per cent from the peak it set in early January.
Back home, eight of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty IT index's 1.5 per cent gain. Nifty Media, Pharma, PSU Bank, and Consumer Durable indices were also trading on a positive note.
On the other hand, Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, Metal, and Private Bank indices were trading lower.
Broader markets were outperforming their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.9 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 1.5 per cent.
Hindalco was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 4 per cent to Rs 596 on profit-taking after a massive upmove. Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, UPL, ONGC, Eicher Motors, Asian Paints, HDFC, Hero MotoCorp, State Bank of India, Hindustan Unilever and SBI Life also fell between 1-3 per cent.
On the flipside, NTPC, Power Grid, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Sun Pharma, Tata Consumer Products, HDFC Life, Cipla and HCL Technologies were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 2,135 shares were advancing while 677 were declining on the BSE.