Banking, oil shares drag Sensex down 156 points

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower in a range-bound trade on Tuesday due to profit booking, mainly in banking and oil shares, and investors staying on the sideline amid escalating tensions between India and Pakistan.

Photograph: Arko Dutta/Reuters

Snapping its two days of gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 155.77 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 80,641.07.

During the day, it dropped 315.81 points or 0.39 per cent to 80,481.03.

The NSE Nifty dipped 81.55 points or 0.33 per cent to 24,379.60.

The trading activity was range bound ahead of the US Federal Reserve’s policy decision and concerns over US-China trade negotiations, analysts said.

The Union Home Ministry has directed states and UTs to hold mock drills in light of the rising Indo-Pak tensions after the Pahalgam terror attack.

Close to 300 ‘civil defence districts’ with sensitive installations like nuclear plants, military bases, refineries, and hydroelectric dams will be covered by mock drills on air-raid warning sirens, civilian training for a “hostile attack” and cleaning of bunkers and trenches.

Among Sensex firms, Eternal, Tata Motors, State Bank of India, Adani Ports, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Sun Pharma were the major losers.

Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle and Maruti were among the gainers.

In Asian markets, Shanghai’ SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng settled higher. South Korean and Japanese markets were closed due to holidays.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 497.79 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 2.76 per cent to $61.85 a barrel.

“The domestic market has been consolidating in recent sessions following the strong recovery, driven by cautious sentiment amid India-Pakistan border tensions.

“Weak earnings growth for the current quarter has further impacted the market.

“Meanwhile, investors are closely monitoring India’s bilateral trade negotiations with the US.

“Additionally, speculation around the US Federal Reserve is drawing attention, as no rate cuts are expected in the near term, affecting global trends,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

India’s service sector activity accelerated slightly in April largely driven by a quicker increase in new order inflows, which also underpinned a faster expansion in employment, according to a monthly survey on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index reached 58.7 in April, up from 58.5 in March, indicating a sharp and stronger expansion in service sector output.