Nifty falls for second straight session dragged by Reliance and ICICI Bank

Stock market today: The National Stock Exchange’s benchmark Nifty 50 index fell for the second straight session on Tuesday erasing early gains. The benchmark indices were dragged down by the market giants such as Reliance Industries (fell 1.23 per cent), and banking majors including HDFC Bank (fell 1.08 per cent), ICICI Bank (fell 1.48 per cent), and State Bank of India (fell 0.72 per cent).

The Nifty 50 closed 0.62 per cent or 140.20 points lower at 22,302.50 and BSE’s 30-share Sensex also felt the heat and the index closed 0.52 per cent or 383.69 points lower at 73,511.85.

Bajaj Auto, Power Grid Corp, ONGC, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, and Hindalco were some of the biggest losers for the day in the Nifty 50 index, falling 2-4 per cent. 

Despite strong bearish sentiment in the market, Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) shares showcased strong resilience as the majority of them recorded substantial gains after positive results by Marico in the quarter ending March of the last fiscal.

Marico, a multinational consumer goods company, shares surged 10 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 586.55 after it surpassed earnings estimates in the March quarter. The Mumbai-based company disclosed a 4.9 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit, reaching Rs 320 crore for the March quarter. 

This marks a notable improvement from the previous fiscal year's corresponding quarter, where the company's consolidated net profit stood at Rs 305 crore.

Top FMCG majors including Hindustan Unilever (up 5.2 per cent), Nestle India (up 2.52 per cent), and ITC (2.06 per cent) were among the top gainers in the Nifty 50.

Mid- and small-cap shares faced intense selling pressure as Nifty Midcap 100 index dropped 1.95 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dived 1.89 per cent.

Top losers in the midcap basket included JSW Energy, Prestige, GMR Infra, Torrent power, Paytm, Macrotech Developers, Yes Bank and Voltas falling between 4-6 per cent.

Likewise in the small-cap space, MRPL, Ceat Tyre, Graphite India, BLS International, IRCON, Mahanagar Gas and Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation dropped 4-6 per cent.

Talking about today's market movement, Rahul Ghose Founder & CEO, Hedged.in said, "Both Nifty & BankNifty slipped down into the buy zone after opening at positive note. A lack of confidence from the bulls was evident, forcing them to close Nifty 140 points and BankNifty over 600 points in Red. The highest Put writing at 22,000 strike for Nifty and for BankNifty at 47,000 strike may act as support during the week. One can expect a small dead cat bounce now in the next few sessions."