Stock markets end lower amid profit-taking in banking, auto shares ahead of GST Council meeting

Mumbai: Reversing its early gains, benchmark BSE Sensex declined by 206 points on Tuesday due to last-hour profit-taking in banking and auto shares amid caution ahead of the GST Council meeting.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 206.61 points or 0.26 per cent to settle at 80,157.88 with 16 of its components ending lower and 14 with gains. The barometer opened higher and traded with gains till late afternoon session. However, profit-taking at the fag-end dragged the index down by 752.64 points from the day's high of 80,761.14.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dipped 45.45 points or 0.18 per cent to 24,579.60. During the day, it hit a high of 24,756.10 and a low of 24,522.35.

Among Sensex firms, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and Larsen & Toubro closed with losses.

However, Power Grid, NTPC, Tata Steel and Hindustan Unilever were the major gainers.

"Domestic equities reversed early gains from strong macro data, ending lower on profit-booking amid caution ahead of the GST Council meeting and F&O expiry, with banking stocks leading the decline," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

The GST Council is meeting in New Delhi for two days beginning September 3 to discuss the proposed pruning of rates.

"Markets started the session on a firm note, supported by positive domestic cues and optimism around the GST Council meet. After an initial uptick, the Nifty inched gradually higher in the first half. However, selling pressure in banking and select heavyweights during the latter half derailed the recovery, dragging the index into the red on the weekly expiry day," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.64 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.27 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, bankex dropped the most by 0.68 per cent, followed by telecommunication (0.59 per cent), financial services (0.44 per cent), teck (0.28 per cent) and consumer durables (0.13 per cent).

Power jumped 1.62 per cent, followed by utilities (1.47 per cent), FMCG (1.12 per cent), metal (0.90 per cent), realty (0.67 per cent) and energy (0.65 per cent).

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi and Japan's Nikkei 225 index settled in positive territory while Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading in negative territory.

US markets were closed on Monday for the Labour Day holiday.

On Monday, the Sensex jumped 554.84 points or 0.70 per cent to settle at 80,364.49, and the Nifty climbed 198.20 points or 0.81 per cent to 24,625.05.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.72 per cent to USD 69.36 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,429.71 crore on Monday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought worth Rs 4,344.93 crore, according to exchange data.