MUMBAI: The Indian stock markets’ key indices slumped by around 1 per cent on Tuesday, dragged down by heavy selling pressure in IT and banking stocks ahead of the first quarter earnings report by several large-cap companies and announcement of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision on interest rates.
The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex slumped 497.73 points to 55,268.49 points against its previous day’s close at 55,766.22 points. Earlier, the Sensex started the day in the positive at 55,834.38 points, but soon slipped into negative. It slipped to a low of 55,203.43 points in the intra-day.
This is the second consecutive day of the slump in the benchmark index. The Sensex had lost 306.01 points on Monday.
The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange fell 147.15 points to 16,483.85 points against its previous day’s close at 16,631.00 points. The Nifty 50 had lost 88.45 points on Monday.
There was heavy selling pressure in IT stocks. Infosys tumbled 3.40 per cent to Rs 1451.80, Wipro dipped 2.28 per cent to Rs 405.20, HCL Technologies slipped 1.74 per cent to Rs 914.15 and Tech Mahindra dipped 1.68 per cent to Rs 999.50.
The country’s largest software exporter, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), fell 1.62 per cent to Rs 3,115.85, Axis Bank slumped 3 per cent to Rs 706.35, Kotak Bank slipped 2.07 per cent to Rs 1,757.55 and State Bank of India closed 0.67 per cent down at Rs 514.15. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank also closed in the red.
Bajaj Finserv surged 5.58 per cent to Rs 13,314.75 while Bharti Airtel rose 0.83 per cent to Rs 683.80. Power Grid Corporation, Bajaj Finance, ITC and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the major Sensex gainers.
The index heavyweight Reliance Industries Limited ended the day almost flat. The scrip closed 0.01 per cent higher at Rs 2420.50.
Bajaj Auto slumped 2.30 per cent to Rs 3,925.20 after the announcement of quarterly numbers. Bajaj Auto reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,173.3 crore for the first quarter of the current financial year as compared to Rs 1,061.2 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the last year, registering a year-on-year growth of 10.6 per cent.
The company’s standalone revenue from operations rose by 8.4 per cent year-on-year to Rs 8,004.97 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2022.
On a sequential basis, the company’s revenue increased by 0.3 per cent. In January-March 2022 quarter, Bajaj Auto’s total revenue from operations stood at Rs 7,974.84 crore. Its board of directors, at its meeting on Tuesday, approved the financial results for the quarter ended June 30. (ANI)