Sensex, Nifty end lower for third straight session; RBI policy in focus

Benchmark indices fell for the third straight day on Tuesday amid weak global markets and continuous foreign funds outflow. Investors were risk averse ahead of the RBI's policy decision on Wednesday, traders said. Sensex tanked 567.98 points to end at 55,107.34 and Nifty fell 153.20 points to close at 16,416.35.

During the day, Sensex dived 793 points to 54,882.41 and Nifty lost 222 points to 16,347. Titan, Dr Reddy's, Larsen & Toubro, HUL, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, TCS and Nestle were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 4.48 per cent.

NTPC, Maruti, M&M and Bharti Airtel were the top Sensex gainers rising up to 1.35 per cent. Of 30 Sensex stocks, five ended in the green today.

Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities said, "Benchmark indices ended in red for the third straight session on intense selling pressure amid expectations of aggressive global central banks and also the hawkish RBI backdrop. Also, US dollar logging modest strength along with bond yields above 3 per cent were seen denting sentiments. Technically speaking, the downside risk for the Nifty is seen at 16121. Alternatively, if Nifty's make-or-break support at 16121 holds, then expect bulls to re-group with aggressive targets seen at 16897-17250 zone with an inter-week perspective. Nifty's 200- DMA is seen at 17,risk-averse269 mark."

Investors lose Rs 2.5 lakh crore: Key factors behind the market crash today

The market cap of BSE-listed firms fell to Rs 254.33 lakh crore today against Rs 256.41 lakh crore on Monday, translating into a loss of Rs 2.08 lakh crore.

Market breadth was negative with 1,286 shares ending higher against 2,011 stocks falling on BSE. 121 shares were unchanged.

Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities said, "The market is waiting for the trigger from RBI's mid quarter policy review meeting, which is expected to decide on monetary policy tomorrow. The negative outcome could trigger more weakness and any positive or status quo approach could bring bulls back into action. The positive sequence like higher tops and bottoms is intact as per the daily chart. The present weakness is expected to form a new higher bottom of the sequence. Hence, the market action in the next 1-2 sessions could decide the course of action. The short-term trend of Nifty continues to be negative. Formation of small negative candles with lower shadows on the downside and placement of crucial supports, one may expect Nifty to witness sustainable upside bounce from the lows of 16300-16250 levels in the next 1-2 sessions."

BSE mid-cap and small-capmid-quarter indices fell 175 points each in trade today.

Foreign institutional investors sold shares worth a net Rs 2,397.65 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.

Sensex declined 93.91 points to close at 55,675 on Monday. During the day, the 30-stock index tanked 473.49 points to 55,295.74. Nifty fell 14.75 points to finish at 16,569.55.

Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy's, Nestle, Larsen & Toubro, HUL, and Axis Bank were the top Sensex losers, falling up to 2.36 per cent. Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the major gainers, rising up to 0.99 per cent.

Global markets

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Hong Kong and Seoul finished lower, while Tokyo and Shanghai ended with marginal gains. European markets were trading lower during afternoon trade. Stock markets in the US had ended with gains on Monday. Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.26 per cent to $119.2 per barrel.