New Delhi, 9 December (H.S.): Domestic equity benchmarks extended their losing streak for the second consecutive session on Tuesday as investors booked profits ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy announcement. Heavy selling pressure in banking, oil, and IT stocks weighed on the indices.

At the close of trade, the BSE Sensex fell 436.41 points, or 0.51 percent, to end at 84,666.28, while the NSE Nifty 50 dropped 120.90 points, or 0.47 percent, to settle at 25,839.65. During the session, the Sensex had plunged as much as 719.73 points to touch an intraday low of 84,382.96, while the Nifty briefly fell 232.55 points to an intraday low of 25,728.

Out of the 30 Sensex components, 22 stocks declined, while eight closed in the green. Key laggards included Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Sun Pharmaceuticals, TCS, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles.

On the other hand, Titan, Adani Ports, Bharat Electronics, SBI, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, and Eternal ended with gains, providing some support to the index.In the broader Asian market, major indices mirrored the weakness. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, China’s Shanghai Composite, and South Korea’s Kospi ended lower, while Japan’s Nikkei closed in positive territory.

Meanwhile, European markets traded firm in early deals.In commodities, global benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.27 percent to USD 62.33 per barrel, reflecting investor caution ahead of monetary policy developments.On Monday, the Sensex had already shed 609.68 points (0.71%) to close at 85,102.69, and the Nifty had fallen 225.90 points (0.86%) to 25,960.55.

Analysts said that volatility is likely to remain high this week as investors keenly track U.S. inflation data and the Federal Reserve’s policy commentary.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar