Nifty ends below 24,000, Sensex falls 400 points; auto, financials drag

Equity benchmarks ended lower on Tuesday, with the Nifty slipping below the 24,000 mark and the Sensex declining over 400 points, as weakness in financial and auto stocks weighed on sentiment.

The Sensex closed at 76,886.91, down 416.73 points or 0.54%, while the Nifty 50 settled at 23,995.70, down 97 points or 0.40%.

Financials, autos lead decline

Banking and financial stocks remained under pressure through the session.

Axis Bank , ICICI Bank , and SBI were among key laggards, dragging the indices lower, while the Nifty PSU Bank index declined over 2%, emerging as one of the worst-performing sectoral indices.

Auto stocks also saw selling pressure led by Maruti Suzuki that posted a 6.4% decline in its consolidated net profit for the March quarter.

Aviation, IT stocks also weak

Aviation stocks remained under pressure amid elevated crude oil prices, with IndiGo declining over 2%, reflecting concerns around higher fuel costs.

IT stocks also traded with a negative bias, tracking global weakness, with Infosys , HCLTech and Wipro ending lower.

Energy, metals provide support

On the positive side, oil & gas stocks gained as crude prices remained elevated.

ONGC, Reliance Industries and Coal India were among the top gainers, while metal stocks also saw modest buying interest, helping limit deeper losses in the benchmarks.

Broader market mixed

The broader market showed mixed trends, with midcaps and select thematic indices displaying resilience.

Nifty Metal and Oil & Gas indices ended in the green, while FMCG, IT, and Realty indices closed lower.