SENSEX, NIFTY50 edge lower dragged down by losses in IT shares ahead of August F&O expiry

The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Tuesday, August 25, ahead of the monthly expiry of NIFTY50, NIFTY Bank and stock futures and option contracts due later in the day.

The SENSEX fell as much as 223 points and NIFTY50 index touched an intraday low of 24,128. The benchmarks, however, came off intraday low levels owing to buying interest in ICICI Bank, Eternal, Bharti Airtel, Trent and Axis Bank.

As of 9:26 am, the SENSEX was down 61 points at 77,308 and NIFTY50 index fell 38 points to 24,181.

Asian markets were trading lower on Tuesday after President Donald Trump's administration on Monday warned countries to cut their business ties with Iran or face secondary sanctions as part of what it billed as an "economic D-Day," but the Treasury Department stopped short of actually imposing penalties, news agency Reuters reported.

Iran, however, promised to retaliate against expanded US economic sanctions that the Americans said would cut off Iran's economic lifeline, with Tehran expressing confidence that major trading partners would resist Washington's pressure campaign.

Japan's Nikkei fell 0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite declined 0.16%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.25% and South Korea's KOSPI Index tumbled 2.01%.

US stocks mostly ended lower on Monday as investor sentiment took a knock tracking selling pressure in technology shares and trade tensions between United States and Canada.

Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.26%, S&P 500 index fell 0.28% and tech heavy Nasdaq index dropped 0.76%.

Crude oil prices declined by more than $2 per barrel as investors took profits after recent gains and shrugged off new US sanctions on Iran.

Back home, nine of 15 major sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were trading lower led by the NIFTY IT index's 0.75% fall. NIFTY Metal, Auto, FMCG, Pharma, Realty, Healthcare, Consumer Durables and Oil & Gas indices also fell between 0.2% and 0.5%.

On the other hand, select banking, financial services and media shares were witnessing buying interest.

Broader markets were trading on a flat note as both NIFTY Midcap 100 and NIFTY Smallcap 100 indices were little changed.

Hindustan Copper shares declined around 6% as investors focused on the central government’s stake sale move.

NSE data showed that Hindustan Copper shares declined 5.8% to touch their early market low of ₹540.55 apiece on Tuesday’s market, in comparison to ₹574.15 apiece at the previous equity market close.

Government of India, which owns a majority stake in the copper mining company, is now looking to sell up to 6% of its holdings through an offer for sale (OFS), according to the latest exchange filing.

HCL Technologies was top loser in the NIFTY50 index, the stock fell 1.2% to ₹1,306. Tata Motors PV, Cipla, Hindalco, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, JSW Steel, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products also declined between 0.6% and 1%.

On the flip side, Adani Ports, Eternal, Trent, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma and Bharat Electronics were top gainers in the NIFTY50 index.