Equities settle low on profit booking, rising crude prices; Sensex slips 550 pts (Ld)

New Delhi, Jan 18 (IANS) The Indian equity indices — S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 — settled sharply lower on Tuesday primarily due to profit booking after the recent gains.

Notably, indices traded on a positive note for six out during the past seven sessions.

On Tuesday, the Sensex and Nifty settled at 60,754 points and 18,113 points, down 0.9 per cent or 554 points and 1.1 per cent or 195 points from their previous close, respectively.

All the sectoral indices traded in the red with Nifty realty, metal, IT, auto, and PSU bank declining the most, the NSE data showed.

“Surge in oil prices and FIIs turning net sellers also added volatility in the domestic market,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

“Globally, markets witnessed selling pressure following a surge in US treasury yield amid rate hike worries while oil prices rose on supply tension owing to the drone attack on UAE.”

On the stocks front, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Consumers, Ultratech Cement, Eicher Motors, and Grasim Industries shares tanked the most, declining 4.1 per cent, 3.9 per cent, 3.8 per cent, 3.7 per cent, and 3.6 per cent, respectively, exchange data showed.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy’s, and Nestle India, on the other hand, were some of the top gainers during Tuesday’s trade.

–IANS

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