Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India] (ANI): The Indian equities markets benchmark Sensex slumped 554 points on Tuesday due to heavy selling pressure at the fag-end of the session on negative cues from the US and European markets. Heavy selling was witnessed in auto, metal, pharma and IT stocks. Maruti Suzuki tumbled over four per cent. UltraTech Cement slumped 3.54 per cent. The Index heavyweight Reliance Industries fell 1.23 per cent. The 30 stock S&P BSE Sensex of the Bombay Stock Exchange closed at 60,754.86 points, which is 554.05 points or 0.90 per cent lower from its previous day’s close at 61,308.91 points. Earlier the Sensex opened in the positive at 61,430.77 points and rose to a high of 61,475.15 points in the early morning trade. Later, the Sensex slipped into negative and again returned in the positive zone in the afternoon session. Massive selling towards the end of the session dragged the benchmark Sensex down to 60,662.57 points towards the end of the trading session. The broader Nifty 50 of the National Stock Exchange closed at 1.07 per cent or 195.05 points down at 18,113.05 points as compared with the previous day’s close at 18,308.10 points. The Nifty also opened in the positive at 18,337.20 points and witnessed volatile trading. The Nifty touched a high of 18,350.95 points and low of 18,085.90 points in the intra-day. There was heavy selling pressure in auto, IT, pharma and metal stocks. Maruti Suzuki slumped 4.05 per cent to Rs 7930. Tech Mahindra dipped 3.54 per cent to Rs 1660.65. UltraTech Cement slumped 3.83 per cent to Rs 7566.25, a day after the company announced its third quarter results. UltraTech Cement on Monday said its net profit rose by 8 per cent to Rs 1,708 crore for the third quarter of the current financial year as against Rs 1,584 crore recorded in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. The increase in profit is mainly because of a one-time gain of Rs 535 crore in tax for earlier years. HCL Technologies 3.09 per cent down at Rs 1219.85; Tata Steel 2.86 per cent down at Rs 1194.50; IndusInd Bank 2.22 per cent down at Rs 900.20; L&T 2.14 per cent down at Rs 2025.05; Bharti Airtel 2.03 per cent down at Rs 713.75 and Wipro 1.98 per cent down at Rs 633.40 were among the major Sensex losers. Only seven of the 30 scrips that are part of the benchmark Sensex closed in the positive. Axis Bank rose 1.83 per cent to Rs 725.60. HDFC Bank 0.53 per cent higher at Rs 1529.60; ICICI Bank 0.48 per cent higher at Rs 823.35; Kotak Bank 0.34 per cent higher at Rs 1941.50 and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories 0.25 per cent higher at Rs 4685.45 were among the major Sensex gainers. (Image source: Unsplash)
