Closing Bell: Sensex slips 110 points, Nifty below 18,050; Tata Motors top gainer, HDFC twins slump

The Indian equity benchmark declined Tuesday despite a positive start as the shares were dragged by financials. Auto, oil & gas, and PSU Bank shares kept the indices from plunging.

The 30-scrip Sensex closed at 60,433, as it lost 112 points and the Nifty50 index declined 25 points to end at 18,044. The broader markets outperformed the benchmarks as both mid-caps and small-caps rose over 1 and 0.5 percent, respectively.

Among the 50 stocks on Nifty, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Motors, ONGC, Hero MotorCorp, Divi's Labs lead the gains, as each scrip rose over 1 to 4 percent. Leading the losses were Britannia, HDFC Bank, Maruti, JSW Steel, and HDFC.

Among sectors on NSE, auto, PSU Bank, and oil & gas stocks surged nearly a percent higher. Nifty Bank, Financial Services, and Metal closed the day in the red.

Globally, the stocks were boosted by a $1 trillion US infrastructure bill and held the line close to all-time highs.

The pan-European STOXX opened flat but just a whisker from the record high hit last week. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.26 percent.

US stock futures were broadly unchanged after Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq extended their run of all-time closing highs to eight straight sessions.

Market analysts are, however, eager to get their hands on US consumer prices data Wednesday as a stronger than expected reading would rekindle talk of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates earlier than expected.

Elsewhere in cryptocurrencies, bitcoin hit a new record and held close to it at about $68,000.

Oil prices were slightly up as the passage of the US infrastructure bill and China's export growth supported the outlook for energy demand. Saudi Arabia's state-owned producer Aramco also raised the official selling price for its crude.

US crude ticked up 0.59 percent to $82.4 a barrel. Brent crude rose 0.46 percent to $83.31 per barrel. Spot gold was slightly down at $1,823 per ounce.