Sensex falls over 200 points, equities remain under pressure

Equity benchmark indices remained under pressure and extended losses during opening hours on Tuesday as investors awaited corporate results for the April to June quarter of current financial year for further cues.

At 10:15 am, the BSE S & P Sensex was down 217 points at 38,504 while the Nifty 50 slipped 72 points to 11,487. At the National Stock Exchange, sectoral indices were mixed.

Nifty FMCG, IT, financial services and banks were in the red while auto, metal and realty in the positive territory. Nifty pharma moved up over one per cent.

Among stocks, Titan slumped 9.7 per cent after the company said that its first quarter witnessed a tough macro-economic environment with consumption being hit. Jewellery segment's revenue increased 13 per cent but a sharp increase in gold prices dented consumer demand significantly in June.

UPL, Asian Paints, HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services and Bajaj Finserv were down between 1.2 and 2.7 per cent.

However, Indian Oil Corporation bucked the trend and rose 2.7 per cent. Yes Bank, Sun Pharma, Cipla and Larsen & Toubro were other gainers.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks saw muted trading after their US counterparts slipped overnight. Stocks pared gains in Japan, fluctuated in South Korea and slipped in Hong Kong and China.

Ahead of a key testimony this week from US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, investors assessed prospects for a monetary easing following some conflicting signals on the US economy.