Sensex, Nifty tumble; Cyient surges 11 per cent, Tata Elxsi gains 7 per cent, Axis Bank dips

Bears dominated the domestic stock markets and tightened their grip as Sensex fell by 937.66 points or 1.994 per cent to close at 47,409.93 levels while Nifty settled at 13,967.50 levels, dropping by 271.40 or 1.91 per cent from its previous close on Monday.  

After a day’s holiday in the last trading week for the month of January 2021, ahead of the presentation of Union Budget 2021 on February 1, heavy profit booking was seen in the scrips even as the IMF put out an impressive 11.5 per cent growth for India in 2021.  

Auto, Metal, and Financial stocks bore the brunt of selling pressure ahead of the Union Budget. Selling in the index heavyweights dragged down the indices to close in red.  

In the global markets, Asian indices such as Shanghai Composite index and Nikkei gained 0.11 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively whereas, Hang Seng and KOSPI fell by 0.32 per cent and 0.57 per cent, respectively.  

In the European markets, indices such as FTSE 100, DAX & CAC 40 were seen trading in red, down by 0.43 per cent, 0.55 per cent and 0.30 per cent, respectively.  

Sensex gainers included Tech Mahindra that jumped 2.57 per cent, ITC rose by 1.35 per cent, Power Grid gained 1.21 per cent, UltraTech Cement increased by 0.80 per cent, HCL Technologies inched higher by 0.79 per cent and Nestle India strengthened by 0.21 per cent, etc.  

Sensex draggers consisted of Axis Bank that plunged 4.05 per cent, Titan Company went down by 3.88 per cent, IndusInd Bank decreased by 3.61 per cent, HDFC Bank fell by 3.60 per cent, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories slumped 3.41 per cent, HDFC decreased by 3.33 per cent, Asian Paints weakened by 3.13 per cent, etc.  

Amongst sectoral indices on BSE, the Bankex was the biggest loser, down by 2.93 per cent whereas the FMCG index was the only index to close in the green, up by 0.28 per cent. BSE Auto index fell by 2.11 per cent. BSE Healthcare index closed down by 1.68 per cent while BSE Metal index fell by 2.54 per cent.   

In the broader markets, BSE Small-Cap index fell by 0.52 per cent while BSE Mid-Cap index declined by 1.38 per cent.