Sensex falls by 181 points, IT and auto stocks suffer

Equity benchmark indices faced a downturn on Tuesday due to weak investor sentiment in a holiday-shortened week with IT and auto stocks suffering the most.

The fall followed reports that the government may miss its divestment target for the current fiscal year 2019-20. The stock market will remain shut on Wednesday on account of Christmas.

The BSE S & P Sensex closed 181 points lower at 41,461 while the Nifty 50 lost by 51 points at 12,212. At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed with Nifty IT falling by 0.54 per cent, media by 0.48 per cent and auto by 0.41 per cent.

Among stocks, Bharat Petroleum Corporation tumbled by 2.72 per cent at Rs 479.60 per share with reports suggesting that its divestment is likely to be pushed beyond March 31.

Index heavyweight Reliance Industries lost by 1.71 per cent at Rs 1,544.50 per share. IT stocks too suffered with HCL Technologies down by 1.7 per cent and Tata Consultancy Services by 0.7 per cent.

The other prominent losers were Eicher Motors, UPL, GAIL, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro and Dr Reddy's. However, the prominent winners included Yes Bank, Cipla, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel and ONGC.

Meanwhile, Asian shares swing in and out of losses as the holiday lull offset optimism that a US-China trade deal will boost exports and corporate earnings.

The Shanghai Composite index rose by 0.67 per cent after Premier Li Keqiang said a day earlier that the government is considering more measures to lower corporate financing costs.

Japan's Nikkei stock index edged up by 0.04 per cent while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell by 0.15 per cent. South Korea's Kospi was also down by 0.62 per cent.

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