Mumbai, Jan 7: Indian equity benchmarks extended their losses for a second consecutive session on Tuesday, weighed down by selling pressure in oil & gas, media and energy stocks. The Nifty slipped below the 26,200 level, reflecting cautious investor sentiment.
At the close, the Sensex declined 376.28 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 85,063.34, while the Nifty fell 71.60 points, or 0.27 per cent, ending the day at 26,178.70.
Among sectoral indices, Nifty Oil & Gas was the worst performer, tumbling 1.67 per cent. Nifty Media, Nifty Chemicals and Nifty Realty also ended lower, shedding between 0.27 per cent and 1.15 per cent.
In contrast, Nifty Pharma rose 1.63 per cent, while Nifty PSU Bank, IT and Metal indices posted modest gains ranging from 0.3 per cent to 0.6 per cent.
Broader markets remained under pressure, with the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices slipping 0.24 per cent and 0.39 per cent, respectively. The overall market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies declined to ₹479 lakh crore, from nearly ₹481 lakh crore in the previous session.
The Indian rupee snapped a four-day losing streak, appreciating 12 paise to close at 90.18 (provisional) against the US dollar.
On the Nifty, major laggards included Trent, Reliance Industries, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank and InterGlobe Aviation, while top gainers were Apollo Hospitals, ICICI Bank, HDFC Life, Sun Pharma and Tata Consumer Products.
Market breadth showed mixed trends, with nearly 140 stocks hitting 52-week highs, while over 120 stocks touched 52-week lows on the BSE.
Stocks reaching new highs included Aether Industries, NALCO, IIFL Finance, Bajaj Auto, Hindalco Industries, Graphite India, Union Bank of India, Hindustan Copper, SBI Life Insurance, SBI and Bank of India.
Meanwhile, counters such as Premier Energies, Vedant Fashions, Mahanagar Gas, ITC, Page Industries, United Breweries, Jubilant FoodWorks and Tata Chemicals touched fresh 52-week lows.
Among individual stocks, NALCO surged 4.8 per cent, while Swiggy extended its decline for a third straight session, dropping 4.6 per cent to ₹361. HDFC Bank fell over 2 per cent, marking its second consecutive session of losses following its Q3 business update.
Bajaj Auto climbed up to 3 per cent to hit a fresh 52-week high after Emkay Global upgraded the stock to ‘Buy’ and raised its target price.