Sensex jumps over 173 points in early trade after two-day decline; turns choppy later

Benchmark indices bounced back on Tuesday after a two-day sharp fall, with the Sensex jumping over 173 points in early trade, but later turned choppy.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was trading 173.39 points higher at 54,644.06 in early deals. The NSE Nifty gained 50.65 points to 16,352.50.

Both the benchmark indices were trading flat later in a highly volatile trade.

Among the Sensex firms, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever Limited, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, M&M and Kotak Mahindra Bank were the major gainers.

In contrast, Infosys, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and Titan were the laggards.

“The mother market US has turned distinctly weak with Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow at 1-year lows. European markets are moving in tandem with US markets. Relatively India is doing better thanks to consistent buying by DIIs and retail investors,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading lower, while Shanghai quoted marginally higher.

Stock exchanges in the US had fallen sharply on Monday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 1.99 per cent to USD 103.88 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors continued to offload shares worth Rs 3,361.80 crore on Monday, according to stock exchange data.

“Wall Street plunged to its lowest level in more than a year on Monday, as markets were already hit by rising interest rates. Following the decline in global stocks, Indian equity indexes may face some pressure.

“Asian markets are trading down on expectations of an economic downturn as a result of growing inflation, higher interest rates and harsh COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in Shanghai,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities.

The Sensex settled 364.91 points or 0.67 per cent lower at 54,470.67 on Monday. The NSE Nifty fell 109.40 points or 0.67 per cent to end at 16,301.85.