Profit booking subdues equities, new intra-day high for Sensex (Third Lead)

Key Indian equity indices on Tuesday provisionally closed on a subdued note, with the BSE Sensex shedding over 350 points and the NSE Nifty over 100 points.

According to market observers, a surge in oil prices and heavy selling pressure in index heavyweights like Lupin, Cipla, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and ONGC, among others, pulled the benchmarks lower to close with substantial losses.

However, the S&P BSE IT and Teck (media, entertainment and technology) indices ended with gains.

The slide in the markets came after the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE touched its new record intra-day high of 33,865.95 points.

The BSE Sensex provisionally closed (at 3.30 p.m.) lower by 360.43 points or 1.07 per cent at 33,370.76 points.

On closing basis, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange declined by 101.65 points or 0.97 per cent to 10,350.15 points.

The BSE market breadth was bearish -- 1,891 declines and 862 advances.

"Indian shares, bonds and the rupee fell on Tuesday after oil prices surged overnight to their highest since mid-2015, raising concerns about the inflation outlook and hit major oil refiners stocks," Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.

On Monday, the benchmark indices closed on a flat note. The Nifty50 was down 0.70 points, or 0.01 per cent, to close at 10,451.80 points, while the Sensex of the BSE closed trade at 33,731.19 points -- up 45.63 points or 0.14 per cent.

--IANS

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