The Sensex fell 876.37 points to 73,852.90 and the Nifty 50 lost 257.20 points to 22,888.95 on October 19, snapping a two-day winning streak that followed the strongest weekly gain in six months.
Earnings played a part. Axis Bank’s profit narrowly missed expectations and its shares fell 4.2%, while LTIMindtree and UltraTech Cement also missed estimates, even as Punjab National Bank reported a 13% rise in net profit.
Oil added to the caution. Brent crude traded around 108 dollars a barrel, and higher prices raise concerns about India’s import bill, inflation and the rupee.
With markets shut on Tuesday and the Jio Platforms IPO opening on Wednesday, investors will watch whether bank earnings improve and whether crude eases.
The Nifty Midcap index fell about 1.1% and the Nifty Smallcap index shed about 1%, according to the same report.
The Nifty Private Bank index fell about 1.9%, the Nifty IT index fell 1.3% after a 3.9% gain in the previous session, and the Nifty FMCG index fell 1.4%.
The Nifty PSU Bank index rose 2.5% and was the only major sectoral index to finish higher, according to HDFC Sky.
Axis Bank fell 4.2% after its September-quarter profit narrowly missed analyst expectations, with higher operating expenses and weaker other income offsetting strong credit growth and lower provisions, according to HDFC Sky.
Among other large stocks, LTIMindtree fell 2.8%, Infosys fell 2.63%, Bajaj Finance fell 2.52%, Yes Bank fell 3.5% and Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles fell 3.09%, according to the article text.
Union Bank of India rose about 5.3% and Punjab National Bank rose about 4.8%, according to HDFC Sky.
Punjab National Bank reported net profit up 13% year on year to Rs 5,532 crore, with net interest income up 11% to Rs 11,601 crore and the gross NPA ratio improved by 90 basis points to 2.55%.
Dalal Street sign board, Mumbai (file image), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0