Sell-off in private banks drags benchmark indices down

Benchmark indices slipped into the red on Tuesday on a sustained sell-off in private banking counters amid mixed cues from global markets, as investors awaited the US inflation data for further commitment in the markets.

‘Investors were reluctant to commit further to the rally before getting a clearer picture of the surge in US inflation,’ Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities, said.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended the intraday session 112.16 points lower at 60,433.45, and the Nifty ended at 18,044.25, down 24.30 points. However, the broader markets ended the session higher amid volatility on Tuesday. The BSE mid-cap index rose 0.8%, while the BSE small-cap index gained 0.6%.

HDFC Bank, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top drags in the BSE index, contributing over 1% each in the fall.

On the contrary, Mahindra & Mahindra rose 3.8% in the day’s trade after the company released its Q2 numbers. The leading tractor maker reported a 214% growth in its net profit to ₹1,929 crore. Larsen & Toubro, SBI, ICICI Bank, and Reliance Industries were other top gainers countering the losses on Tuesday.

A lot of stock-specific action amid the last week of company earnings will further bring along some volatility in the ongoing week, analysts said. ‘This is the last week of the earnings season, which would keep the markets volatile. Lot of stock-specific action would be seen in the market,’ said Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Despite minor volatility, the overall market breadth continued to be positive as nearly 2,003 stocks advanced in the day’s trade, while 1,306 scrips ended in the red on the BSE. Elsewhere in Asia, markets ended with mixed figures on Tuesday. China’s Shanghai and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended higher by 0.2% each, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 ended 0.7% lower at 29,285.46.