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Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty reversed early gains to close lower on Tuesday dragged by last-hour profit-taking in banking and auto shares amid caution ahead of the GST Council meeting.
Photograph: Shailesh Andrade/Reuters
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 206.61 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 80,157.88.
The barometer opened higher and traded with gains till late afternoon session. However, profit-taking at the fag-end dragged the index down by 752.64 points from the day’s high of 80,761.14.
The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 45.45 points or 0.18 per cent to 24,579.60.
During the day, it hit a high of 24,756.10 and a low of 24,522.35.
Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro closed with losses.
However, Power Grid, NTPC, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever were the major gainers.
“Domestic equities reversed early gains from strong macro data, ending lower on profit-booking amid caution ahead of the GST Council meeting and F&O expiry, with banking stocks leading the decline,” Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
The GST Council is meeting in New Delhi for two days beginning September 3 to discuss the proposed pruning of rates.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index settled in positive territory while Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended lower.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.72 per cent to $69.36 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,429.71 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought worth Rs 4,344.93 crore, according to exchange data.
