Markets End with Sharp Cuts after Selling Pressure in Late Trade

Sensex slips 250 points, Nifty barely holds 7,700 mark as selling pressure intensified in the last hour

Markets Reverse Course

• Heavy selling pressure emerged in the last hour of trade
• Sensex slipped 250 points to 13-month closing low after opening in the green
• Global markets remained choppy and provided little directional clue
• Buying in some large cap stocks limited losses, small caps outperformed

Markets wiped all its morning gains as selling pressure intensified in the last hour of trade. The Sensex slipped nearly 250 points to a 13-month closing low amid lack of directional cues from global markets. The Nifty barely held the 7,700 level. That said, index heavyweights such TCS, ITC, Infosys and Reliance Industries were capping any major downside on the benchmark indices. Some buying was seen in the small cap space as well.

TCS, Tata Steel, ITC, Reliance and Infosys were the top gainers while BHEL, SBI, M&M, ONGC and NTPC were the top losers on the Sensex.

Earlier in the day, major Asian markets pared their intraday losses and ended with marginal losses. China’s Shanghai Composite settled 0.2% lower. Japan’s Nikkei ended 0.4% lower.

Markets opened in the green despite volatility across Asian markets and a steep 3% fall in Wall Street overnight. The finance ministry’s MAT breather for foreign investors lifted sentiment among traders. In a major relief to foreign portfolio investors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday said the government has decided not to levy Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on capital gains made by FIIs retrospectively.