The Indian equity benchmark indices reversed gains and ended flat Tuesday after opening at record highs. High volatility in the domestic market pulled the benchmarks lower even as the world stocks climbed to one-month highs.

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The 30-scrip Sensex closed at 61,716, down 50 points. And the Nifty50 index declined 58 points to end at 18,418. The broader markets slumped as well, with both mid-caps and small-caps declining 2 percent.

Among the 50 stocks on Nifty, Tech Mahindra, L&T, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank led the gains, as each scrip rose over 1 to 4 percent. Leading the losses were ITC, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, Titan, and JSW Steel.

Some 19 stocks hit fresh highs in the session today, including Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, SBI, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank and L&T.

Among sectors on NSE, a strong rally was seen in Nifty IT as it surged over 2 percent. Nifty Financial Services also ended the day in the green. But other indices ended in red. Nifty Auto declined over 1.6 percent, FMCG plummeted over 3 percent. Nifty Metal slipped over 2 percent. Nifty Media and Pharma were down 1.5 percent. Nifty PSU Bank declined over 3.5 percent. And Nifty Realty slipped the most, plunging over 5 percent.

ITC shares dropped nearly five percent after the government formed a committee to review the taxation policy for tobacco products. It will develop a comprehensive tax policy on the products from the point of view of public health.

FMCG major HUL reported a net profit of Rs 2,187 crore for the quarter ended September 30, meeting Street estimates. Hindustan Unilever reported revenue of Rs 12,724 crore for the second quarter of the current financial year. The shares had rose 2 percent on the announcement only to reverse gains.

Paras Defence & Space Technologies shares rose 20 percent Tuesday and crossed the Rs 900 mark for the first time ever. It has maintained its winning streak for third sessions now.

Shares of food delivery giant Zomato fell over 1 percent after the company drew massive criticism on social media platform Twitter.

Globally, record-high world stocks rose to one-month highs on back of a rally in tech shares and prospect of solid earnings. These two were enough reasons for investors to not think about elevated inflationary pressures.

An MSCI gauge of world stocks climbed to its highest levels since Sept. 17 whereas US stock futures gained in early London trading. European stocks advanced 0.3 percent.

Macro data also offered some relief for global markets with weaker-than-expected growth data on China and U.S. industrial production numbers on Monday fuelling hopes that central banks won't rush to tighten monetary policy.

Over in commodities, Brent crude rose over half a percent to $84.86 a barrel. US crude gained over 1 percent to $83.36 a barrel.

Bitcoin hit a six-month high and was within striking distance of its all-time peak on Tuesday as traders bet an anticipated listing of a futures-based US exchange-traded fund could herald investment flows into cryptocurrencies.

With inputs from Reuters

(Edited by : Yashi Gupta)

First Published:Oct 19, 2021 3:45 PM IST