Mumbai, Feb 18 – On Tuesday, benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced a slight decline, primarily influenced by ongoing foreign fund outflows and disappointing corporate earnings that dampened investor sentiment.

The 30-share BSE benchmark, Sensex, closed down by 29.47 points, or 0.04 percent, finishing at 75,967.39. During intraday trading, it saw a drop of 465.85 points, or 0.61 percent, reaching a low of 75,531.01. Similarly, the NSE Nifty fell by 14.20 points, or 0.06 percent, to settle at 22,945.30.

Ameya Ranadive, a Chartered Market Technician and Senior Technical Analyst at StoxBox, noted, “The Indian blue-chip equity indices, Sensex and Nifty-50, faced a slight downturn on Tuesday, largely due to a slowdown in earnings and persistent foreign selling, which negatively impacted market sentiment.”

Among the notable laggards in the Sensex pack were IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, and Asian Paints. Conversely, NTPC, Zomato, Tech Mahindra, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and HCL Tech emerged as gainers.

The BSE smallcap index fell by 1.71 percent, while the midcap index saw a decline of 0.19 percent. Sector-wise, the BSE indices reflected a downward trend, with industrials dropping by 1.51 percent, consumer durables by 1.19 percent, telecommunications by 1.06 percent, capital goods by 0.91 percent, autos by 0.65 percent, and consumer discretionary by 0.55 percent. In contrast, BSE utilities rose by 1.03 percent, BSE Focused IT by 0.86 percent, oil & gas by 0.70 percent, and energy by 0.38 percent.

The trading session saw 2,918 stocks decline, while 1,032 advanced and 114 remained unchanged on the BSE. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, commented, “The domestic market is experiencing a mix of profit-booking and bottom-fishing amid ongoing concerns regarding FII outflows and pressure on the Indian Rupee. Small and midcap stocks continue to lag due to worries about premium valuations. Additionally, India’s trade deficit has widened beyond expectations, driven by increasing imports linked to a depreciating domestic currency and rising commodity prices.”

According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 3,937.83 crore on Monday.

In the Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong closed in positive territory, while Shanghai ended lower. European markets were mostly down, and US markets were closed on Monday in observance of ‘President’s Day.’

On the global front, the oil benchmark Brent crude rose by 0.73 percent, reaching USD 75.77 per barrel. Notably, the Sensex had previously climbed by 57.65 points, or 0.08 percent, to close at 75,996.86 on Monday, breaking an eight-day losing streak, while the Nifty rebounded by 30.25 points, or 0.13 percent, to 22,959.50.