NIFTY50 falls for a fifth straight session, SENSEX drops 281 points dragged by IT stocks

The Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Monday, August 17, with NIFTY50 index declining for a fifth straight session and SENSEX dropping as much as 555 points dragged down by losses in index heavyweights like Infosys, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, ITC, HCL Technologies and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The SENSEX ended 281 points lower at 77,728 and NIFTY50 index declined 78 points to close at 24,288.

Asian markets edged higher on the back of buying interest in tech shares as investors awaited clarity on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Japan's Nikkei rose 0.7%, China's Shanghai Composite index advanced 1.41%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index gained 1.34% and South Korea's KOSPI surged 2.42%.

Back home, seven of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower lewd by the NIFTY IT index's 1.75% fall. NIFTY FMCG, Pharma, PSU Bank, Healthcare and Consumer Durables indices also declined between 0.4% and 1%.

On the other hand, metal, realty and select private banks witnessed buying interest.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note as NIFTY Midcap 100 index closed on a flat note while NIFTY Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.35%.

Among the individual shares, PTC Industries rose as much as 8.72% to hit an intraday high of ₹20,709 after the company reported strong earnings in June quarter.

PTC Industries' net profit jumped 466% to ₹292 crore in Q1 from ₹52 crore a year earlier.

Its revenue from operations jumped 83% to ₹1,971 crore.

Physicswallah shares advanced as much as 9.5% to hit an intraday high of ₹128 after the company post market hours on Friday reported an EBITDA positive quarter at ₹52 crore in the first quarter of current financial year.

The company saw 24% year-on-year growth in revenue from operations to ₹1,054 Cr and a significant improvement in operating profitability.

Hindustan Copper shares gained more than 7% as price of copper surged in global markets owing to the decline in inventories on the London Metal Exchange.

HCL Tech was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 2.57% to close at ₹1,325.

Infosys, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle India, ITC, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors PV, Cipla, Bharti Airtel and Wipro also fell between 1.14% and 2.5%.

On the flip side, Hindalco, Tata Steel, HDFC Life, ONGC, Axis Bank, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, Ultratech Cement, Reliance Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bharat Electronics were top gainer in the NIFTY50 index.

The overall market breadth was negative as 1,825 shares ended lower while 1,682 closed higher on the NSE.