Markets settle lower; Sensex falls for third day

Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid and Nestle were among the winners. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Benchmark indices ended the day in the negative territory on December 6 amid weak global market trends and rising crude prices.

Falling for the third day running, the 30-share BSE benchmark ended 208.24 points or 0.33% lower at 62,626.36. During the day, it tumbled 444.53 points or 0.70% to 62,390.07.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 58.30 points or 0.31% to end at 18,642.75.

“Bears kept pushing domestic indices lower amid unfavourable global cues, with significant selling in metal and IT stocks. The mood was dampened by renewed concerns over policy tightening by the Fed in response to strong economic data out of the U.S. However, while easing COVID curbs in China benefited the demand outlook, fresh sanctions on Russian oil further added volatility to global oil markets. Investors at home await the RBI policy meet tomorrow,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Among the Sensex pack, Tata Steel, Dr Reddy’s, Infosys, State Bank of India, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies and Maruti were the major laggards.

Hindustan Unilever, UltraTech Cement, Power Grid and Nestle were among the winners.

“Markets traded lacklustre and lost nearly half a per cent, tracking feeble global cues. After a gap-down start, the Nifty hovered in a narrow range till the end and finally settled at 18,642.75 levels,” said Ajit Mishra, VP – Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.53% and smallcap index fell 0.32%.

Among sectoral indices, metal fell 1.68%, tech (1.37%), IT (1.36%), telecommunication (1.07%), realty (0.73%) and consumer durables (0.54%).

Energy, FMCG, utilities and power were the winners.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul and Hong Kong ended lower, while Tokyo and Shanghai settled in the green.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading lower in the afternoon trade. Wall Street had ended in the negative territory on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.68% higher at $83.24 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth ₹1,139.07 crore on Monday, as per exchange data.