Equity markets settled with losses on Tuesday, with
Sensex closing 703.59 points lower as index heavyweights Infosys and HDFC twins
continue to dent market sentiments.

Worries over rising inflation and foreign fund outflows
amid uncertain geopolitical situations also affected investor confidence.

The BSE Sensex closed 703.59 points or 1.23% lower at 56,463.15.
In a highly volatile session, it touched a high of 57,464.08 and a low of
56,009.07 during the day. The NSE Nifty tumbled 215 points or 1.25% to settle
at 16,958.65. Both the indices closed in the red for the fifth session in a
row.

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On the sectoral front, except oil & gas, all other
indices ended lower with IT, power, realty and FMCG indices down 2% each. BSE
midcap and smallcap indices lost a per cent each.

Major laggards from the 30-share pack include HDFC down
by 5.50%, HDFC Bank down by 3.73%, Infosys down by 3.55%, ITC down by 3.33,
Tech Mahindra down by 3.17% and HCL Technologies down by 2.87% were among the
major laggards.

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Among the gainers were Reliance Industries rose by 3.71%,
ICICI Bank rose by 1.04%, State Bank of India rose by 0.44%, and Bajaj Finance
rose by 0.25%.

The rupee slipped 22 paise to close at 76.51 against the
US dollar.

Asian markets peers in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower
while Seoul and Tokyo closed in green.

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European markets were also running lower in the afternoon
session.

Stocks in the US market had settled marginally lower on
Monday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude fell 1.39% to USD
111.6 per barrel.

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According to stock exchange data, foreign institutional
investors continued their selling spree, offloading shares worth a net Rs
6,387.45 crore on Monday.