Equities continue downward momentum, PSU banks tumble 4.8 pc

Equity indices continued their negative momentum with the Nifty PSU bank index on the verge of posting its biggest loss since September 2018.

At the closing bell, the BSE S & P Sensex was down 289 points or 0.7 per cent at 37,397 while the Nifty 50 levelled 104 points lower to 11,085.

Except for IT, all sectoral indices at the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were in the negative zone. Nifty PSU bank tumbled by 4.8 per cent, metal by 3.3 per cent, pharma and by 2 per cent each, and realty by 1.4 per cent.

Among stocks, Coffee Day Enterprises hit its lower circuit of 20 per cent at Rs 153.40 after the company's founder V G Siddhartha went missing under mysterious circumstances on Monday evening.

State Bank of India was down by 4.7 per cent while Punjab National Bank slipped by 4.5 per cent. Even Yes Bank plunged 9.45 per cent to close at Rs 85.80 per share while IndusInd Bank dived over 7 per cent to Rs 1,329.70 apiece.

Indiabulls Housing Finance was down 6.6 per cent to close the day at Rs 522.90 per share following BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's accusation of company embezzling massive funds from the National Housing Bank.

Among the other prominent losers were Hero MotoCorp, Sun Pharma, Grasim, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, and Dr Reddy.

However, Bharti Airtel edged higher by 4 per cent. IT majors like Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech, Wipro and Infosys showed marginal gains. Meanwhile, most Asian indices were in the green as equity investors prepared for an expected US interest rate cut this week. Japanese Nikkei was up 0.4 per cent, showing a little reaction after the Bank of Japan left monetary policy unchanged as expected.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.35 per cent while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.4 per cent.