Stock markets fall for 2nd day on weak global trends, fresh foreign fund outflows

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty ended lower on Tuesday amid weak trends in Asian and European markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.

Reversing its early gains, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 297.07 points or 0.36 per cent to settle at 82,029.98. During the day, it dropped 545.43 points or 0.66 per cent to 81,781.62.

The 50-share NSE Nifty went lower by 81.85 points or 0.32 per cent to 25,145.50.

Bajaj Finance, Bharat Electronics, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, NTPC, Trent, Asian Paints and Axis Bank were the major laggards among Sensex stocks.

However, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Power Grid, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.

"Equity markets saw broad-based profit-booking amid a lack of fresh domestic triggers, as weak cues from Asian and European peers dampened investor sentiment. Renewed US–China trade tensions reignited risk aversion, prompting a shift toward safe-haven assets such as gold and US Treasury bonds, while equities came under pressure on concerns of escalating global trade uncertainty," Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.

In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite Index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower. Markets in Europe were trading lower.

US markets ended sharply higher on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dropped 1.82 per cent to USD 62.17 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 240.10 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

On Monday, the Sensex dropped 173.77 points or 0.21 per cent to settle at 82,327.05, snapping its two-day rally. The Nifty declined 58 points or 0.23 per cent to 25,227.35.