Markets slip as healthcare, banking stocks drag

27 Jul , 2021 By : Kanchan Joshi

Mumbai: Indian markets on Tuesday fell nearly 0.7% led by a decline in healthcare and banking stocks. A fall in the Chinese market also dented sentiments. Benchmark Sensex lost 0.67% to 52,500 points while Nifty fell 0.64% to 15,723 points.

Dr Reddy's Lab was down 7?ter the firm reported lower-than-expected earnings. The company has reported consolidated profit at Rs570.8 crore for the quarter ended June 2021, a 1.5% drop from the year-ago period. Profit in June 2020 quarter stood at Rs579.3 crore. Revenue from operations grew by 11.4% year-on-year to Rs4,919.4 crore.

Healthcare stocks including Sun Pharma lost 2.7%, APL Ltd 11%, SPARC 8%, Alembic Ltd 6%, Ipca Lab 4%, and Aurobindo Pharma 4%.

Banking stocks also fell with Axis Bank losing 3%, Kotak Mahindra Bank 2.2%, Bandhan Bank 1.1%, and Indusind Bank 0.6%.

Asia's stocks fell to fresh seven-month troughs on Tuesday, led by a third straight session of heavy selling of Chinese internet giants, while bond and currency markets clung to tight ranges ahead of the Federal Reserve policy meeting.

The Hong Kong benchmark fell 2.84% on Tuesday on its third day of decline, with the Hang Seng Tech index down 6.46% to its lowest since its inception in July 2020. It has fallen around 14% in three days and has lost 41% from the February peak.

Chinese bluechips dropped sharply in afternoon trading, falling 2.93?ter closing at their lowest since December on Monday thanks to regulatory crackdowns in the education and property sectors.

Fed will begin its two-day meeting on Tuesday, with investors set to scrutinise a statement and press conference from Chair Jerome Powell, due late Wednesday. They will be looking to see how the central bank will balance fast-rising prices with the complication of increased coronavirus infections.

"Global cues were weak as investors worried over the stricter regulations being imposed by Chinese government in the education and tech sectors, while Singapore's manufacturing output declined 3% in June on a month-on-month basis. Market is also awaiting cues from the US Federal Reserve meeting later this week" said Siddhartha Khemka, head retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial.