MUMBAI — Stock Market fell for a second straight session on Tuesday, with the Sensex losing 242.65 points to 72,529.07 and the Nifty 50 falling 64.05 points to 22,716.20. The selling was much heavier during the session. Sensex dropped nearly 708 points to 72,064 before recovering sharply towards the close.
Crude oil remained a major pressure point. Brent moved above $106 a barrel, while the rupee slipped through ₹96 against the dollar, touching ₹96.1475, its weakest level in two months. The currency later recovered to around ₹95.98.
Foreign selling remained heavy. Foreign institutional investors sold ₹5,353.22 crore of Indian equities, while domestic institutions bought ₹5,189.02 crore. September has already seen roughly $3.7 billion pulled out by foreign investors.
The selling spread across the market. Thirteen of 16 sectoral indices closed lower, while the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 fell around 0.8% and 1%. Banking, IT and auto stocks faced selling.
Pharma and metals bucked the broader decline. Nifty Pharma rose 0.64% and Nifty Metal gained 0.78%, with Sun Pharma, Tata Steel and Adani Ports among the gainers. HCL Technologies, TCS and UltraTech Cement were among the notable losers.
The pressure now sits across three markets at once: oil above $105, the rupee below ₹96 and foreign money leaving Indian equities. For India, higher crude means a larger import bill, while a weaker rupee makes those dollar-priced imports costlier.
