The stock market continued its slide for another day on Tuesday with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark Sensex shedding 86 points on sustained selling by cautious investors amid heavy FII withdrawals.
After the initial rally to a high of 13,748.42, the Sensex later met with resistance and fell sharply to an intra-day low of 13,493.38 before ending the day at 13,566.33 from Monday's close of 13,652.15, a net fall of 85.82 points or 0.63 per cent.
The broader S&P CNX Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE), dipped by 22 points or 0.56 per cent to close at 3,911.40 from the previous close of 3,933.40.
Operators and retail investors remained cautious because of the forthcoming earnings season and booked profits in many frontline counters amid negative FII activity.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) pulled out about Rs 788 crore in the cash, as per provisional numbers and made withdrawals of Rs 957 crore from the derivatives on Monday.
The market sentiment was also affected by indications that the government may reduce some tax exemptions in the forthcoming Union Budget.
{{/usCountry}}The market sentiment was also affected by indications that the government may reduce some tax exemptions in the forthcoming Union Budget.
{{/usCountry}}Encouraging Asian markets
Meanwhile, Asian markets exhibited an encouraging trend. Japan's Nikkei ended up by 146.18 points, Singapore's Straight Times by 8.35 points, South Korea's Kospi by 3.53 points and Taiwan's weighted index by 53.30 points. But Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped by 131.58 points.
Refinery shares continued their upward march following lower oil prices. Global crude oil prices fell back to 2005 levels during Asian trade.