Stock Markets Fall For 2nd Day As Selling In Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank Dents Sentiment

Stock Market Today: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower for the second day in a row on Tuesday, dragged by heavy selling in blue-chips Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, and worries over fresh warning from the US to further raise tariffs against India.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped 376.28 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 85,063.34. During the day, it tanked 539.52 points, or 0.63 per cent, to 84,900.10. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 71.60 points, or 0.27 per cent, to end at 26,178.70.

From the 30-Sensex firms, Trent tumbled 8.62 per cent after the Tata group's retail firm's revenue growth in the December quarter failed to cheer investors.

Reliance Industries cracked 4.42 per cent, while ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, InterGlobe Aviation, and HDFC Bank were also among the laggards. However, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever, and State Bank of India were among the gainers.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 36.25 crore on Monday after a day's breather, according to exchange data. Domestic institutional investors, however, bought stocks worth Rs 1,764.07 crore.

US President Donald Trump has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi knew "I was not happy" with India's purchases of Russian oil and that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi "very quickly".

Trump made the remarks while talking to reporters on Sunday aboard Air Force One en route to Washington DC from Florida. Meanwhile, India's services sector growth moderated in December, as the rates of expansion in incoming new work and output eased to the slowest in 11 months, and companies refrained from recruiting additional staff, a monthly survey said on Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.8 in November to 58.0 in December, indicating the slowest rate of expansion since January. In the Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below 50 denotes contraction.

Firms remained upbeat towards growth prospects, but overall sentiment fell to its lowest level in nearly three-and-a-half years, the survey said. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi index, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended signicantly higher.

Markets in Europe were trading on a mixed note. US markets ended higher on Monday. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 0.28 per cent to USD 61.93 per barrel.

On Monday, the Sensex dropped 322.39 points, or 0.38 per cent to settle at 85,439.62. After hitting a record intra-day high of 26,373.20, the Nifty failed to carry forward the momentum and declined 78.25 points or 0.30 per cent to end at 26,250.30.