Stock markets take breather after sharp rally, Sensex tanks 1,282 pts as IT shares retreat
Mumbai, May 13 (PTI): Stock markets tumbled on Tuesday with benchmark Sensex falling by 1,282 points due to profit-taking in IT, auto and private banking shares a day after a record rally.
The 30-share BSE barometer tanked 1,281.68 points or 1.55 per cent to settle at 81,148.22 with 25 of its constituents closing with losses and five with gains. During the day, it fell sharply by 1,386.21 points or 1.68 per cent to 81,043.69.
The broader Nifty of NSE dropped 346.35 points or 1.39 per cent to 24,578.35.
From the Sensex firms, Infosys declined the most by 3.54 per cent. Power Grid dropped 3.4 per cent, Eternal by 3.38 per cent, HCL Tech by 2.94 per cent, Tata Consultancy Services by 2.88 per cent and Bharti Airtel by 2.74 per cent. IndusInd Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Maruti, Tata Motors, and M&M were also among the laggards.
Sun Pharma, Adani Ports, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India and Tech Mahindra were the gainers.
Profit-taking was evident across the board, with IT, FMCG, and auto sectors emerging as the top losers, Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.
"The domestic market witnessed profit booking today, following yesterday’s sharp rally. The relief-driven surge—fuelled by easing global and domestic risks, including a reduction in trade war tensions and Indo-Pak geopolitical stress—appears to be taking a breather," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
Sensex and Nifty logged their best single-day gains in absolute terms on Monday following buying by retail and foreign investors after India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop military actions and the US and China announced a deal to lower tariffs significantly. The indices raced nearly 4 per cent on Monday on across the board rally.
Broader markets closed with gains on Tuesday with the BSE smallcap gauge jumping 0.99 per cent and midcap index by 0.17 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Focused IT tanked 2.44 per cent, teck (2.39 per cent), IT (2.21 per cent), utilities (1.35 per cent), power (1 per cent), metal (0.95 per cent) and oil & gas (0.95 per cent).
Healthcare, industrials, capital goods, services and consumer durables were the gainers.
In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index and Shanghai's SSE Composite index settled in the positive territory while Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower. European markets were trading mostly higher.
US markets ended significantly higher on Monday following easing of trade tensions between China and the US. The Nasdaq Composite surged 4.35 per cent, S&P 500 jumped 3.26 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 2.81 per cent.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.32 per cent to USD 65.17 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,246.48 crore on Monday after a day's breather, according to exchange data.
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Cong takes swipe at PM over India not being part of US-led 'Pax Silica' grouping
New Delh (PTI) The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC".
In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia."
"Given the sharp downturn in the Trump-Modi ties since May 10th, 2025, it is perhaps not very surprising that India has not been included. Undoubtedly, it would have been to our advantage if we had been part of this group."
"This news comes a day after the PM had enthusiastically posted on his telephone call with his once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC," the Congress leader asserted.
The new US-led strategic initiative, rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies, has been launched to build a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain.
According to the US State Department, the initiative called 'Pax Silica' aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned nations can develop and deploy transformative technologies at scale.
The initiative includes Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the United Arab Emirates, and Australia. With the exception of India, all other QUAD countries -- Japan, Australia and the US -- are part of the new initiative.
New Delhi will host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 on February 19-20, focusing on the principles of 'People, Planet, and Progress'. The summit, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, will be the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South.
Prime Minister Modi and US President Trump on Thursday discussed ways to sustain momentum in the bilateral economic partnership in a phone conversation amid signs of the two sides inching closer to firming up a much-awaited trade deal.
The phone call between the two leaders came on a day Indian and American negotiators concluded two-day talks on the proposed bilateral trade agreement that is expected to provide relief to India from the Trump administration's whopping 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods.
In a social media post, Modi had described the conversation as "warm and engaging".
"We reviewed the progress in our bilateral relations and discussed regional and international developments. India and the US will continue to work together for global peace, stability and prosperity," Modi had said without making any reference to trade ties.
