Equity markets were weak on Tuesday following tepid global mood, and profit booking in IT shares. The S&P BSE Sensex dropped 195 points, or 0.26 per cent, to end at 73,677 levels, while the Nifty50 closed at 22,356, lower by 49 points or 0.22 per cent.
Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were the top laggards on the 30-share benchmark with 4 per cent decline each, followed by Nestle India, Infosys, TCS, Ultratech Cement, Wipro, HCL Tech, HUL, L&T, and Tata Steel.
On the upside, Tata Motors advanced 3.58 per cent, Bharti Airtel added 3 per cent, and SBI 1.6 per cent.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices, too, ended 0.17 per cent and 0.63 per cent weak, respectively.
Among sectors, the Nifty IT index slipped 1.6 per cent, the Nifty Media 1.4 per cent, and the Nifty FMCG 1 per cent. On the upside, the Nifty Auto rallied 1.3 per cent.
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said: “While the market is steady, the small cap index is showing some strain with a cut of 0.5% yesterday. Perhaps there is some selling happening in small caps in response to the Sebi advisory to mutual funds flagging concerns of excessive valuations. Weakness in the small cap segment is likely to continue.”
“The Chinese National People’s Congress, which has begun, will be keenly watched by the markets. Announcements relating to the initiation of growth stimulating reforms have the potential to attract big money into their stock market, which is now trading at cheap valuations. Therefore, it is important to watch out for developments in China,” stated Vijayakumar.
“While there is fundamental support to the Indian stock market, high valuations can constrain further rally. The market is likely to remain range-bound in the near-term,” he added.
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