Reliance Industries Weak Q2 Results Pull Nifty, Sensex Lower: Market Wrap

India's benchmark stock indices ended lower on Tuesday, tracking the losses in index heavyweight Reliance Industries Ltd. after it reported lower than expected profit in the September quarter. RIL contributed 37.36 points of the 65-point fall in the Nifty 50.

Nifty ended 0.28% or 70.60 points, lower at 25,057.35 and Sensex closed 0.19% or 152.93 points, down at 81,820.12. Intraday, Nifty fell 0.5% and Sensex fell 0.4%.

According to Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares, the Nifty level of 25,200 acted as a strong hurdle, triggering a sharp reversal and range-bound activity. He added that in the non-directional market, the index has formed a dark cloud cover candlestick pattern on the daily chart, and consolidation (25,000-25,200) breakout is a must for a clear picture.

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., Nestle India Ltd., and HDFC Life Insurance Ltd. weighed the most on the index, while those of ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd., Asian Paints Ltd., and UltraTech Cement Ltd. cushioned the fall.

Sectoral indices were mostly down at close; Nifty Realty rose the most and Nifty Metal was the top loser.

Market breadth was nearly evenly split between buyers and sellers. Around 2,049 stocks rose, 1,904 stocks declined, and 111 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended 0.25% and 1.05% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 14 sectors advanced and six declined out of 20. The BSE Metal declined the most, while the BSE Realty rose the most.