Mumbai, Aug 5: Equity market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Tuesday amid selling in oil & gas and banking shares ahead of the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy announcement.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 308.47 points or 0.38 per cent to close at 80,710.25. During the day, it declined 464.32 points or 0.57 per cent to hit an intraday low of 80,554.40.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 73.20 points or 0.30 per cent to close at 24,649.55. During the session, it slipped by 132.45 points or 0.53 per cent to 24,590.30.
The BSE smallcap gauge went lower by 0.27 per cent and the midcap index by 0.14 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Oil & Gas fell by 0.96 per cent, Energy by (0.74 per cent), FMCG by (0.61 per cent), Services and Focussed IT by (0.59 per cent each), IT and Realty by (0.52 per cent each) and Healthcare by (0.48 per cent). Auto, Power, Capital Goods, Commodities, Industrials, Consumer Durables, Metal and Telecommunication were the only gainers.
Investors are now awaiting the upcoming RBI policy decision, where market has marginal expectations of a rate cut, in the near-term. Currently, the preferences of investors are for domestic consumption-driven stocks and sectors holding limited volatility to external factors, Nair added.
The RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra-headed rate-setting panel started the three-day deliberations to decide the next bi-monthly monetary policy on Monday. The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC) will announce the outcome on Wednesday.
The European markets were trading in green. The US markets ended higher on Monday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.02 per cent to USD 68.06 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,566.51 crore while domestic institutional investors purchased equities worth Rs 4,386.29 crore on Monday, according to exchange data. (PTI)
