Sensex drops 250 points as markets end lower; Nifty holds above 25,700

The equity benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty ended Tuesday's (January 13) session largely in the red but well off the intraday lows, with the Nifty managing to hold above the 25,700 mark amid a recovery in financial stocks. The Sensex closed down 250 points at 83,628, while the Nifty slipped 58 points to settle at 25,732.

Financial stocks staged a recovery from lower levels, helping the Nifty Bank index close in the green. The banking gauge rose 128 points to end at 59,579, even as broader markets underperformed. The midcap index fell 119 points to close at 59,598.

Despite the rebound from lows, market participation remained weak, with nearly 30 stocks in the Nifty closing in the red. Market breadth was neutral, with the advance-decline ratio standing at 1:1.

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From the Sensex basket, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Tech Mahindra Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, ICICI Bank Ltd, State Bank of India and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd were the major gainers.

Trent Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd, Reliance Industries Ltd, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd and Grasim Industries Ltd were the biggest laggards.

Sectorally, defence stocks saw the sharpest declines. Solar Industries, Zen Technologies and DCX Systems were among the top losers in the segment. In the IT space, Tata Consultancy Services gained nearly 1%, while

HCL Technologies

closed in the red following their respective Q3 results.

Among individual stocks, GTPL Hathway dropped 22% from its highs despite reporting a 9% year-on-year rise in profit after tax. Eternal gained over 3% on hopes of increased MSCI weightage.

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Heavyweights including Trent, Larsen & Toubro, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, InterGlobe Aviation and Reliance Industries were among the top Nifty losers, declining between 2% and 4%.

In the midcap space, Dixon Technologies, AU Small Finance Bank, L&T Finance, Godrej Properties and PB Fintech were the top laggards, falling between 2% and 5%.

On the positive side, Bank of Maharashtra rose 2% after reporting its Q3 results, aiding the recovery in banking stocks and limiting the downside for the benchmarks.

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