Nifty, Sensex Dip Ahead of Powell’s Speech; Adani Stocks Lead, Tata Steel Cracks

By Malvika Gurung

Investing.com -- The domestic market made a lower closing on Tuesday, tracking negative cues from US bears following the release of strong jobs data which renewed fears of the Fed’s rate hike lasting longer than expected.

Benchmark indices Nifty50 ended 0.24% lower at 17,721.5 points and Sensex declined 0.37% or 220.86 points on Tuesday.

Markets globally will await Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech scheduled at 11:10 pm (Indian Time) on Tuesday, to know the central bank’s rhetoric and if it continues its transformation from hawk to dove.

Losses on Dalal Street were led majorly by FMCG and auto stocks, while heavyweights including Tata Steel (NS: TISC ), Hindalco (NS: HALC ), ITC (NS: ITC ), Maruti Suzuki (NS: MRTI ), Tata Motors (NS: TAMO ), Hindustan Unilever (NS: HLL ) and Hero MotoCorp (NS: HROM ), among others exerted pressure on the market.

Tata Steel ends 5.41% lower at Rs 111.1 apiece.

Sectoral indices under the Nifty umbrella ended on a mixed note, with gains led by Nifty Realty and Nifty Bank , while Nifty FMCG , Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal led the losses.

Adani Group mega-cap giants Adani Enterprises (NS: ADEL ) and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (NS: APSE ) soared up to 25% in Tuesday’s intraday trade and were top gainers on the benchmark index Nifty50.

The market fear gauge India VIX tanked 3.82% to 14.13 levels on Tuesday.

"Sentiments in the domestic market were hammered by bears that dominated the US market post the release of strong jobs data. Global markets are currently driven by central bank policies and the surge in bond yields in expectation of more rate actions,” said Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services.