Indian equities ended sharply lower on Tuesday, August 18, with the Sensex and Nifty closing at the day's low. Weakness in IT and realty stocks, declines in Inox Wind and Colgate, and broad-based selling kept the market under pressure, even as select stocks such as Tube Investments, Bosch and Indo-MIM gained.
The Sensex fell 493 points to 77,235, while the Nifty dropped 133 points to 24,155, slipping below the 24,200 mark. The Nifty Bank declined 235 points to 57,262, while the Midcap Index fell 278 points to 63,539. All four major indices ended with losses of more than 0.3%.
The market also adjusted lower for the second straight session after the closing auction session, with the Nifty adjusting lower by 11 points, the Sensex by 90 points and the Nifty Bank by 46 points. IT stocks remain weakInformation technology stocks were among the key drags on the market.
Infosys, Wipro and HCL fell 2% each, keeping pressure on the benchmark indices.2. Realty stocks drag midcapsRealty stocks were among the top midcap losers, with Oberoi and Lodha among the top decliners. The Midcap Index ended 278 points lower at 63,539.3.
Inox Wind reverses gains, Colgate slipsInox Wind reversed Monday's gains and ended 4% lower. Colgate declined 3% as brokerages pointed to margin concerns following the investor meet. Tube Investments, Bosch buck the trendTube Investments gained 8% following a positive outlook from brokerages.
Bosch extended its gaining streak and is up 19% this month so far.5. Defence stocks and Indo-MIM gainDefence stocks rose following the government's new indigenous list, with Cochin Shipyard gaining 2%. Indo-MIM surged 10% on strong first-quarter results, with the stock almost doubling from its issue price.6.
Nelco falls, Milky Mist extends gainsNelco fell 11% after announcing an investment of ₹190 crore in Lunar Holdco/Elveo Mobile. Milky Mist made a strong debut and extended gains to 30% after listing at an 18% premium. Only 10 Nifty stocks closed in the green, with Axis Bank and Max Health as the top gainers.
Asian Paints Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Wipro Ltd and Hindustan Unilever Ltd were the biggest laggards.