Domestic equity market indices Sensex and Nifty traded half a per cent lower on Tuesday due to losses in shares of select heavyweights, including HDFC Bank, ITC, Infosys, Maruti and tepid earnings growth in the December quarter of FY20. “Investors are profit booking in mid & small caps post the decent pre-budget rally. Some subdued results in Q3 compared to the solid expectation has triggered a consolidation in the market,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said. S&P BSE Sensex ended 205 points or 0.49 per cent lower at 41,324 points, while the broader Nifty 50 index settled at 12,169.85 points, 0.45 per cent or 55 points lower. Tata Steel, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Maruti, Asian Paint Power Grid and ITC were among the top laggards on the Sensex pack. On the other hand, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ONGC, HDFC, TCS and IndusInd Bank gained the most.

The shares of Vodafone Idea surged as high as 24.27 per cent during the trade to touch an intraday high of Rs 6.04 apiece on BSE. It settled at Rs 5.92, up 21.81 per cent higher. The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to hear the modification pleas filed by telecom companies Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Tata Teleservices seeking more time to pay AGR (adjusted gross revenue) dues. 

“We believe this is a rational reaction of the market which will hold in the short-term and can reverse as per the final outcome of Budget & Q3FY20 results,” Vinod Nair said.

Barring Nifty Pharma and Nifty Media, all the sectoral indices finished in red. The Nifty Metal index dropped 1.27 per cent dragged by Tata Steel, NMDC, SAIL, Welspun Corp and Hindustan Zinc. While the Nifty Realty index ended 1.43 per cent lower weighed by weakness in Prestige Estates Projects, Sunteck Realty and Godrej Properties.

The broader market outperformed equity benchmarks. “Broader markets were not in a bad shape as some activity on an individual basis was visible,” Amit Shah, Technical Research analyst,  Indiabulls Ventures Ltd said. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended 32 points or 0.21 per cent lower at 15,586.67 points, while S&P BSE SmallCap index settled flat at 14,651.76 points.