On Tuesday, key stock indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a decline for the third straight day amid volatile trading, influenced by selling in IT and blue-chip private banking shares along with foreign fund outflows due to concerns over the significant increase in US H-1B visa fees. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended down by 57.87 points, or 0.07 percent, closing at 82,102.10 after fluctuating between a high of 82,370.38 and a low of 81,776.53, a total swing of 593.85 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 32.85 points, or 0.13 percent, to finish at 25,169.50. Analysts noted that purchases in the auto sector and certain public sector banks helped mitigate the losses.
Among the firms listed on the Sensex, Trent, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Asian Paints, Eternal, and ITC were significant laggards. Additionally, selling pressure from HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank negatively impacted the main indices. Conversely, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finance, Maruti, and State Bank of India saw gains. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Ltd, remarked that the domestic equity market remained rangebound and closed flat, signaling ongoing consolidation. Overall sentiment was cautious, particularly affecting small- and mid-cap stocks which lagged behind the benchmarks. Sector performance varied, with autos, metals, and financials gaining traction due to promising festive demand following GST cuts, while FMCG and realty stocks faced pressure from profit-taking.
The BSE smallcap index fell by 0.35 percent and the midcap index decreased by 0.29 percent. Among sectoral indices, FMCG experienced the largest decline of 1.28 percent, followed by realty at 0.89 percent, BSE Focused IT at 0.72 percent, consumer durables at 0.66 percent, teck at 0.63 percent, and IT at 0.63 percent. In contrast, sectors such as metals, bankex, auto, financial services, and telecommunication saw gains. Overall, equity markets rebounded sharply from the day’s lows as investors were encouraged by expectations of a revival in domestic demand bolstered by the recent GST reforms, along with optimism regarding upcoming India–US trade negotiations, which stimulated buying at lower price levels and reflected renewed market confidence in the near term.