Benchmark BSE Sensex declined nearly 338 points to close below the 58,000 level on Tuesday, marking its fourth straight day of losses as auto, IT and financial stocks wilted amid concerns over interest rate hikes and the fallout of failure of two US-based banks.
Analysts said relentless foreign capital outflows, investors junking riskier assets ahead of the US Fed policy decision and fears of interest rate hikes to stifle global economic recovery have hit the market sentiment.
Mahindra & Mahindra was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, declining nearly 3 per cent, followed by TCS, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Kotak Bank, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech and Tata Motors.
The 30-share benchmark index ended at 57900.19 down by -337.66 points or by -0.58 % and then NSE Nifty was at 17043.3 down by -111 points or by -0.65 %.
Sensex touched intraday high of 58490.98 and intraday low of 57721.16 The NSE Nifty touched intraday high of 17224.65 and intraday low of 16987.1
The top gainers of the BSE Sensex pack were Titan Company Ltd. (Rs. 2356.55,+0.93%), Bharti Airtel Ltd. (Rs. 771.85,+0.80%), ICICI Bank Ltd. (Rs. 830.65,+0.39%), Axis Bank Ltd. (Rs. 835.45,+0.38%), Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (Rs. 2144.25,+0.38%), among others.
The top losers of the BSE Sensex pack were Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. (Rs. 1160.25,-2.92%), Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. (Rs. 3216.85,-2.00%), Bajaj Finance Ltd. (Rs. 5732.45,-1.91%), Wipro Ltd. (Rs. 379.40,-1.75%), Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. (Rs. 1647.60,-1.60%), among others.
_CGS index was at 34048.31 up by 39.79 points or by 0.12%. Sona BLW Precision Forgings Ltd. (Rs. 431.05,+6.22%), Thermax Ltd. (Rs. 2204.55,+2.01%), GMR Airports Infrastructure Ltd. (Rs. 39.46,+1.57%), CG Power and Industrial Solutions Ltd. (Rs. 294.10,+1.12%), Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (Rs. 74.76,+0.71%),.
IT index was at 28527.96 down by -421.98 points or by -1.46%. Allied Digital Services Ltd. (Rs. 84.60,-8.86%), Black Box Ltd. (Rs. 89.15,-7.23%), Xelpmoc Design and Tech Ltd. (Rs. 109.05,-5.91%), Intellect Design Arena Ltd. (Rs. 402.25,-5.07%), Nucleus Software Exports Ltd. (Rs. 543.40,-4.17%),.
The Market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was weak. On BSE out of total shares traded 3897 , shares advanced were 1304 while 2462 shares declined and 131 were unchanged.