Sensex tumbles for 2nd day; Infy top drag

Equity indices nursed losses for the second consecutive session on Tuesday as investors continued to dump IT, banking and FMCG stocks amid a bearish trend in global markets.

Unabated foreign fund outflows and the rupee dropping to another record low against the US dollar added to the woes, traders said.

Participants were also in wait-and watch mode ahead of release of retail inflation and factory output data.

The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a weak note and fell 508.62 points or 0.94 per cent to end at 53,886.61.

The broader NSE Nifty declined 157.70 points or 0.97 per cent to settle at 16,058.30.

Infosys was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, slipping 2.33 per cent, followed by Nestle India, PowerGrid, HUL, M&M, HCL Tech and Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Only three counters closed in the green -- NTPC, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finance, rising up to 1.87 per cent.

"Rate hike fears are back in focus in the global markets ahead of the release of CPI numbers.

"Inflationary pressures along with strong US jobs data would keep the Fed on the path of aggressive rate hikes...Demand concerns amid the rebound of virus cases in China compelled crude to trade lower," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap and midcap indices dropped 0.52 per cent and 0.51 per cent, respectively.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT fell by 1.29 per cent, followed by teck (1.21 per cent), metal (1.16 per cent), auto (1.13 per cent), FMCG (1.03 per cent), bank (0.94 per cent), consumer discretionary goods & services (0.93 per cent) and capital goods (0.91 per cent).

Telecom, utilities, power and realty ended higher.

World stocks were under pressure on renewed concerns over policy tightening by central banks and its impact on global growth.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Shanghai, Tokyo, Seoul and Hong Kong ended in the red.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude fell 2.37 per cent to $104.6 per barrel.

The rupee declined 15 paise to close at a new lifetime low of 79.60 (provisional) against the US dollar on Tuesday as a strong greenback overseas and weakness in domestic equities weighed on investor sentiments.

Foreign institutional investors remained net sellers on Monday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 170.51 crore, as per exchange data.