CHENNAI: Indian benchmark indices closed lower on Tuesday, August 12, dragged by weakness in financial, FMCG and realty shares. The BSE Sensex fell 368.49 points, or 0.46 per cent, to settle at 80,235.59, while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 97.65 points, or 0.40 per cent, to close at 24,487.40.
The session was marked by volatility, with selling pressure in heavyweight banking stocks such as HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank weighing on sentiment. On the BSE, Maruti Suzuki, Tech Mahindra and Mahindra & Mahindra were the top gainers, while Bajaj Finance, Trent and Hindustan Unilever ended among the biggest losers. On the NSE, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki and Hero MotoCorp led the gainers, while Bajaj Finance, Trent and Hindustan Unilever were among the key laggards.
Broader markets ended mixed. The Nifty Midcap 100 index slipped 0.27 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 managed to edge up 0.04 per cent. Sectorally, financials led the decline with the Nifty Financial Services index down 0.9 per cent, followed by Private Bank (-0.81 per cent), Realty (-0.73 per cent) and FMCG (-0.5 per cent). On the positive side, Nifty Metal and IT rose 0.38 per cent each, Auto gained 0.56 per cent and Pharma advanced 0.69 per cent.
Market sentiment remained cautious ahead of key US and domestic inflation data due later this week, which kept traders on edge and limited upside momentum despite gains in select sectors.