Sensex falls for 9th straight session

Extending its fall for the ninth consecutive session, the BSE Sensex gave up early gains to end 146 points lower Tuesday, dragged down by IT stocks amid strong foreign fund outflows.

Lacklustre cues from other Asian and European markets too weighed on investor sentiment, analysts said.

After a 489-point intra-day swing, the 30-share index settled 145.83 points, or 0.41 per cent lower at 35,352.61. The broader NSE Nifty fell 36.60 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 10,604.35.

TCS and Infosys were the top losers in the Sensex pack, falling up to 3.39 per cent.

Other losers were NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Hero MotoCorp, HDFC, Bajaj Auto, HCL Tech, HUL, Maruti and PowerGrid, shedding up to 2.34 per cent.

On the other hand, Vedanta, ICICI Bank, ONGC, M&M, L&T, Tata Steel, SBI, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel and ITC were among the gainers, rising up to 3.38 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE IT index lost the most, shedding 2.09 per cent, followed by power and utilities.

"The fall was mainly due to the sudden fall in the IT stocks like TCS, Wipro and Infosys," said Joseph Thomas, Head Research - Emkay Wealth Management.

There is a certain level of inaction stemming from the European economic numbers indicating a slowdown in growth, and an enhanced rhetoric in the sub-continent on the Indo-Pak relations, he added.

Metal, telecom, auto and realty indices, however, ended in the green, rising up to 1.66 per cent.

Meanwhile, broader indices outperformed benchmark indices, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap rising up to 0.55 per cent.

Investor sentiment also turned negative on heavy selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs), said traders.

FIIs sold shares worth a net Rs 1,239.79 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers to the tune of Rs 2,336.74 crore on Monday, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.42 per cent and Korea's Kospi fell 0.24 per cent. Japan's Nikkei ended 0.09 per cent up and Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.04 per cent.

In the Eurozone, Frankfurt's DAX was down 0.12 per cent, Paris CAC 40 fell 0.40 per cent, and London's FTSE shed 0.55 per cent in early deals.

Meanwhile, the domestic currency derivatives markets were closed on account of Chhatrapati Shivaji Jayanti.

Brent crude futures were trading 0.29 per cent lower at USD 66.31 per barrel.