Private banks pull down Sensex 71 points

The benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty ended in the red zone for the third session in a row on Tuesday.

The Sensex tanked 71.07 points, or 0.21%, at 33703.59, while the broader Nifty fell 18 points, 0.17%, to 10360 dropping by 18 points.

The Sensex opened up 139.28 points or 0.41%, at 33913.94, while the 50-share Nifty rose 12.60 points at 10391.

Private sector banks were the main laggards on Tuesday, dropping 0.91%. Mahindra and Mahindra tanked 2.48%, followed by Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, YES Bank and RIL, which dropped as much as 1.44%. Realty, capital goods, healthcare, auto and infrastructure stocks dragged the indices into the negative zone.

Among the top gaining stocks were Coal India, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India and Tata Consultancy Services rising as much as 1.84% on Tuesday.

It was also not a great day for the broader markets. The market capitalisation fell 0.06% and small-caps were down 0.15%. Also, sustained foreign fund outflows and the drop in rupee hitting three-month low against the dollar also added to the negativity.

Meanwhile, the foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth Rs 850.35 crore while the domestic institutional investors purchased shares worth Rs 1,437.24 crore.