Markets reverse early gains in volatile trade; Sensex falls 236 pts

Equity indices failed to hold on to morning gains on Tuesday, with the Sensex falling 236 points amid a sell-off in IT stocks and weak trends from global markets.

The 30-share BSE benchmark opened higher but could not carry forward the momentum and declined 236 points or 0.43 per cent to settle at 54,052.61.

During the day, it hit a low of 53,886.28 and a high of 54,524.37.

The broader NSE Nifty dropped 89.55 points or 0.55 per cent to end at 16,125.15.

In the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Technologies,  Asian Paints, NTPC, Tata Steel, Infosys, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finserv were among the biggest laggards.

In contrast, Dr Reddy's, HDFC, PowerGrid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank  and Nestle were among the major gainers.

"Nifty faced selling pressure in the post noon session once again today.

"It opened flat and rose in the morning.

"It later came under selling pressure and closed lower for the second consecutive session," said Deepak Jasani, head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Asian markets in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo ended lower.

Exchanges in Europe were also trading lower in the afternoon trade.

Stock markets in the US had ended higher on Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.46 per cent to $112.9 per barrel.

Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth a net Rs 1,951.17 crore on Monday, as per stock exchange data.

"There is no distinct trend in this whipsaw market. Daily trading for the near-term is fraught with high risk," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.