Sensex Falls 150 Points; Metal, Oil & Gas Stocks Under Pressure

The BSE Sensex and Nifty were weak on Tuesday, tracking lower Asian markets. The Sensex fell over 150 points while Nifty was trading near 7850.

Strong selling pressure was seen in metal, oil & gas and healthcare stocks. ONGC plunged nearly 4 per cent loser while Cairn India fell over 3 per cent amid continuing weakness in crude prices. The outlook for commodity prices, which are already at multi-year lows, has weakened amid a strong dollar after analysts boosted their expectations of a Fed rate hike next month. 

Among metal stocks, Hindalco fell over 3 per cent while Vedanta declined 2 per cent and Tata Steel 1.6 per cent. 

Shares in India's two largest drugmakers, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy's Laboratories continued to struggle after both reporting compliance troubles that could dent profits this business year. Dr Reddy's fell nearly 4 per cent while Sun Pharma declined 2 per cent. 

Some buying was seen in auto and consumer durable stocks on hopes that the festive season will perk up sales. Hero MotoCorp, Maruti Suzuki and Tata Motors were among the gainers.

IndiGo made a strong debut on exchanges with shares rising 17 per cent on its first day of listing. The company raised Rs 3,008.5 crore at issue price of Rs 765 per share from its recently concluded, over-subscribed initial public offering (IPO).

Asian shares slipped to one-month lows on Tuesday as the spectre of higher borrowing costs in the United States and slower global economic growth prompted investors to trim their exposure to riskier assets.