Stock markets decline for 3rd day on FII selling, weak rupee; Sensex tanks nearly 504 pts
Mumbai (PTI) Stock markets declined on Tuesday, with the benchmark Sensex tumbling nearly 504 points due to selling in blue-chip bank stocks and Reliance Industries, and persistent foreign fund outflows.
Falling for the third straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 503.63 points or 0.59 per cent to settle at 85,138.27. During the day, the benchmark tanked 588.9 points or 0.68 per cent to hit a low of 85,053. The index had scaled a record high level in intra-day trade in the previous session, but closed lower due to profit booking in the second half.
The 50-share NSE Nifty declined by 143.55 points or 0.55 per cent to 26,032.20.
Among Sensex firms, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Bharat Electronics and Larsen & Toubro were the biggest laggards.
However, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,171.31 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 2,558.93 crore, according to exchange data.
"FII selling has once again gathered pace and in the last three sessions have sold domestic shares worth more than Rs 6,000 crore. Valuations at elevated levels and delay in the announcement of the Indo-US trade deal are causing a lot of anxiety amongst the investors who are looking at fresh positive triggers. The rupee's downward spiral is also adding to investors discomfort," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
The rupee breached the psychological 90-a-dollar level in intraday trade before settling 46 paise down at an all-time low of 89.99 against the US dollar on Tuesday.
The BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.49 per cent and midcap index dipped by 0.14 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, services dropped 1.03 per cent, financial services (0.78 per cent), bankex (0.75 per cent), industrials (0.49 per cent) and utilities (0.40 per cent).
BSE Telecommunication, consumer durables, teck and auto were the winners.
A total of 2,563 stocks declined while 1,586 advanced and 167 remained unchanged on the BSE.
In Asian markets, Shanghai's SSE Composite index settled lower while South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended in positive territory.
The decline was primarily driven by a sharp contraction in the IIP data, weakness in the rupee, and caution ahead of the upcoming US Fed and RBI policy decisions later in the week, Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
Markets in Europe were trading higher. US markets ended lower on Monday.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dipped 0.33 per cent to USD 62.96 per barrel.
On Monday, the Sensex pared early gains and ended 64.77 points or 0.08 per cent lower at 85,641.90. During the day, the benchmark jumped 452.35 points or 0.52 per cent to hit a record intra-day high of 86,159.02.
The Nifty dipped 27.20 points or 0.10 per cent to settle at 26,175.75. During the day, it climbed 122.85 points or 0.46 per cent to hit a lifetime high of 26,325.80.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Congress using hijab issue to pacify minority anger, alleges Karnataka LoP R Ashoka
Bengaluru: Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R. Ashoka has accused the Congress government of using the hijab issue to placate what he described as discontent among minority voters after the Davanagere by-election.
In a post on X on Wednesday, Ashoka alleged that the state government, instead of addressing issues such as price rise, corruption, farmers’ distress and law and order, was attempting to retain its minority vote base by reviving the hijab issue.
Referring to the 2022 dress code introduced by the BJP government, which prohibited hijab in schools and colleges, Ashoka said the Karnataka High Court had upheld the policy and emphasised the importance of discipline in educational institutions.
He questioned the Congress government’s move to revisit the issue and asked whether setting aside the court-backed policy to benefit one community could be described as secularism.
Ashoka further alleged that while the government was willing to permit hijab, it continued to prohibit saffron shawls.
He accused the government of dividing students on religious lines rather than treating schools and colleges as spaces of equality.
Drawing a comparison with Mamata Banerjee’s government in West Bengal, Ashoka claimed that excessive appeasement politics had harmed the state and warned that the Congress in Karnataka could face a similar political response.
He said voters in Karnataka would teach the Congress a lesson for what he termed “vote-bank politics” and for compromising constitutional and judicial principles.
