Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Monday, weighed down by sharp losses in heavyweight stocks such as Reliance Industries, Eternal and ICICI Bank amid renewed global tariff concerns.
Market sentiment was further dampened by weakness in the rupee and continued selling by foreign investors, traders said. The 30 share BSE Sensex declined 324.17 points, or 0.39 per cent, to close at 83,246.18. During intraday trade, the index slipped as much as 672.04 points, or 0.80 per cent, to hit a low of 82,898.31.
The NSE Nifty fell 108.85 points, or 0.42 per cent, to settle at 25,585.50.
Among Sensex constituents, Reliance Industries dropped 3.04 per cent after reporting a flat net profit of Rs 18,645 crore for the December quarter, as lower gas production and weakness in its retail segment offset gains in other businesses.
ICICI Bank declined 2.26 per cent after its consolidated profit for the December quarter fell 2.68 per cent to Rs 12,537.98 crore, impacted by a Reserve Bank of India mandated provision of Rs 1,283 crore related to agricultural loans wrongly classified as priority sector lending. On a standalone basis, the lender reported a decline of over 4 per cent in profit at Rs 12,883 crore.
Eternal, Titan, Adani Ports, Tata Consultancy Services and UltraTech Cement were also among the major laggards.
On the positive side, InterGlobe Aviation, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and Bajaj Finance ended the session with gains.
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi and China’s Shanghai Composite closed higher, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng ended lower.
Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Investments Limited, said global risk appetite weakened after US President Donald Trump announced fresh tariff threats against several European nations, reviving fears of a possible US EU trade dispute. He added that the development triggered a risk off sentiment across global equity markets, pushing investors toward safe haven assets such as gold.
On the domestic front, market sentiment remained cautious due to sustained foreign institutional investor outflows. With the December quarter earnings season underway, stock specific volatility is expected, especially where results have been mixed.
Meanwhile, the rupee breached the 91 per dollar level for the second time this month before ending 14 paise lower at 90.92 against the US dollar. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, slipped 1.22 per cent to $63.35 per barrel.
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors sold equities worth Rs 4,346.13 crore on Friday, while domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 3,935.31 crore.
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