Stock markets decline, IT shares lead losses

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty declined on Tuesday due to selling in IT, oil & gas and select banking shares amid uncertainty over the next round of US-Iran negotiations in Doha.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 249.70 points, or 0.33 per cent, to settle at 76,478.67, paring its opening gains. During the day, it fell by 398.98 points, or 0.51 per cent, to a low of 76,329.39.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dropped 80.50 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end at 23,865.75. The delayed onset and sluggish progress of the southwest monsoon, fresh foreign fund outflows and decline in blue-chip IT stocks weighed on market sentiment, analysts said.

Among Sensex shares, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, ITC and Hindustan Unilever were the major laggards. Maruti, Titan, Bajaj Finance and Eternal were among the gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,350.10 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 0.23 per cent to $73.32 per barrel. “The domestic market remained in a consolidation phase, trading within a narrow range and exhibiting a mixed trend. Although geopolitical concerns have eased, the fragile nature of the US-Iran peace deal continues to weigh on sentiment, preventing any meaningful directional move,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said. Sectoral performance was mixed but tilted to the downside, with IT emerging as the primary drag, he said.

“On the domestic front, the current monsoon trend -- pointing to the worst deficit in a decade -- raises concerns about agricultural output and allied sectors, further impacting sentiment amid expectations of weak Q1FY27 earnings,” Nair added. Broader markets also advanced as the BSE SmallCap Select index went up by 0.59 per cent MidCap Select index rose by 0.46 per cent.