Indian benchmark equity indices ended marginally lower on Tuesday as profit booking in the second half of the session erased early gains, with weak Asian market cues and caution ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting minutes weighing on investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex declined 104.35 points, or 0.13 per cent, to close at 78,180.72, while the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 31.65 points, or 0.13 per cent, to settle at 24,398.70.
Market participants remained cautious as they awaited the release of the US Fed minutes for fresh policy signals while tracking weakness across major Asian markets.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty IT emerged as the sole gainer, rising 2.43 per cent on optimism ahead of the June-quarter earnings season.
All other major sectoral indices closed in the red, with Nifty Realty falling 1.73 per cent, Nifty Metal declining 1.14 per cent, Nifty Pharma losing 0.76 per cent, Nifty Media slipping 0.75 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank falling 0.47 per cent and Nifty Auto easing 0.12 per cent.
HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, SBI Life Insurance and Titan were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50, while Trent, Adani Enterprises, Bharat Electronics, Adani Ports, Max Healthcare and TMPV ended as the biggest losers.
In the commodities market, Brent crude oil rose 1.18 per cent to trade at USD 72.86 per barrel.
Across Asia, markets largely ended lower. Japan’s Nikkei 225, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, Taiwan’s weighted index and South Korea’s KOSPI all posted losses, while Singapore’s Straits Times was the only major regional index to finish in positive territory.
