NEW DELHI: Dragged by losses in shares of bank, auto and IT heavyweights, equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty closed in the red on Tuesday ahead of Wednesdays Eid holiday.
After logging gains on Monday, the market fell prey to profit taking today amid weak Asian cues. Investors took money off the table, shifting their focus to RBI's monetary policy due on Thursday to get a sense of interest rate direction in the near future.
BSE Sensex came off 184 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 40,083, while Nifty finished 67 points, or 0.55 per cent, lower at 12,021.
Overall market breadth remained negative as 1,453 stocks declined on BSE against 1,109 stocks that logged gains. As many as 179 stocks remained unchanged.
Let's take a look at the highlights of Tuesday's session:
236 stocks hit lower circuits
As many as 236 stocks, including Dilip Buildcon, Manpasand Beverages, Electrotherm, Mercator, Spice Mobility and Blue Coast Hotels, hit their lower circuits on BSE. On the other hand, Kesar Enterprises, NK Industries, Uniply Industries and Palash Securities were among the 136 stocks that hit their upper circuits.
132 stocks hit 52-week lows
Bayer Cropscience, Fortis Healthcare, Jubilant Life Sciences, Manpasand Beverages, New India Assurance Company, Reliance Infrastructure, Cox & Kings and Eris Lifesciences were among 132 stocks that plumbed 52-week lows on BSE. On the other hand, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Federal Bank, DCB Bank and Titan Company were among 70 stocks that hit 52-week highs.
Spurt in open interest
With a change of 75.46 per cent, Mindtree led the stocks that witnessed the biggest spurt in open interest (OI) on NSE. It was followed by IDBI Bank (40.39 per cent), Adani Ports (29.62 per cent), Manappuram Finance (28.90 per cent), India Cements (28.33 per cent) and Oriental Bank of Commerce (25.02 per cent).
82 stocks signal bearish mood
Momentum indicator moving average convergence divergence, or MACD, showed bearish crossovers on 82 counters on BSE, signalling that these stocks may incur losses in coming sessions. Among them were, Dish TV India, Jain Irrigation, Radico Khaitan, Hexaware Technologies, Olectra Greentech and Fortis Healthcare. On the other hand, Wipro, Bata India, Karur Vysya Bank, PVR, Thomas Cook and Maxheights Infrastructure were among 34 stocks that showed bullish crossovers.
Manpasand plunges 58% in 7 sessions
Shares of Manpasand Beverages fell 4.91 per cent to Rs 46.45, extending their losses into the seventh consecutive session. The stock has come off 58 per cent in the last seven sessions.
ICICI Bank falls on Fitch downgrade
Shares of ICICI Bank declined 0.92 per cent to Rs 418.95 after Fitch Ratings downgraded its Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to 'BB+' from 'BBB-' and its viability rating to 'bb+' from 'bbb-'.
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