Sensex, Nifty close lower for second day in row, RIL slips over 90 points

Domestic stock markets ended lower but recovered some from day’s low after banking index made gains on Tuesday afternoon. However, Reliance Industries that slipped over 90 points dragged NSE Nifty50 by over 42 points.

The S&P BSE Sensex index closed 190.10 points or 0.60 per cent down at 31,371.12.

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Reliance Industries was the top loser in the Sensex pack, plunging over 6 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, Kotak Bank, HUL, HDFC Bank and ONGC.

Top gainers on the BSE were led by NTPC, Bharti Airtel, ITC and IndusInd Bank and PowerGrid.

Similarly, NSE Nifty50 failed to hold 9,200 mark and ended at 9,196.55, down 42.65 points or 0.46 per cent from its previous close.

Among the Nifty50 pack, Vedanta was the top gainer that closed 12.44 per cent or 9.90 points up at Rs 89.50 followed by ITC, Bharti Airtel, NTPC, Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Infratel and Bajaj Finance.

On the other hand, losers were led by the Reliance Industries that fell 5.73 per cent or 90.35 points to close at Rs 1,486.45. It was followed by GAIL, Asian Paints, Cipla, Kotak Mahindra and others.

According to traders, weak cues from global markets on fears of a second wave of coronavirus infections spooked investors across Asia.

After weeks of no new cases, Wuhan, the central Chinese city where the outbreak first emerged, reported six new infections in two days and South Korea announced its biggest spike in new cases in more than a month.

Following the reports, bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Seoul finished in the red.

Stock exchanges in Europe were trading on a mixed note in early deals.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude futures were trading 1.69 per cent higher at USD 30.13 per barrel.

On the currency front, the rupee surged 22 paise to provisionally close at 75.51 against the US dollar.