Benchmark stock market indices erased gains in early trade to close marginally lower on Tuesday. Banking, auto, and media stocks declined, pushing the markets lower.
The S&P BSE Sensex lost 13.53 points to end at 82,186.81, while the NSE Nifty50 ended lower by 29.80 points to close at 25,060.90.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said that the market’s attention is on quarterly earnings, which slowed lately after some traction from banking stocks.
“Positivity noticed on Friday and Monday tapered ahead of the critical August 1st deadline of the U.S. trade agreement. Upside in Q1 earnings will be the critical point to sustain the current premium valuations,” he added.
Among the top gainers on Sensex were Eternal, which jumped 10.56%, Titan Company up by 1.08%, Bharat Electronics Limited rose 0.72%, Maruti Suzuki India gained 0.66%, and Hindustan Unilever increased by 0.65%.
Tata Motors saw the steepest decline of 2.04%, followed by Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone which dropped 1.93%. State Bank of India fell 1.12%, Reliance Industries slipped 1.08%, and Larsen & Toubro was down by 1.07%.
The Nifty Midcap 100 fell 0.61% while Nifty Smallcap 100 declined 0.34%, and India VIX dropped 4.01%.
Among the sectoral indices, only Nifty Pharma showed positive momentum with a gain of 1.00%, while Nifty Metal managed a small rise of 0.23%.
Most sectors faced selling pressure with Nifty PSU Bank leading the decline at 1.57%, followed by Nifty Media which dropped 2.27% and Nifty Realty at 1.01%.
Other major losers included Nifty Auto at 0.74%, Nifty Healthcare at 0.73%, Nifty IT at 0.47%, Nifty Oil & Gas at 0.40%, Nifty FMCG at 0.39%, Nifty Financial Services at 0.17%, Nifty Private Bank at 0.13%, and Nifty Consumer Durables at 0.01%.
“Continued profit booking by the FIIs exerts downward pressure, while steady inflows from DIIs could support a range-bound movement with a positive bias towards Q1 results and the trade deal,” said Nair.