Sensex drops 180 points to end day at 59,700, Nifty settles at 17,650 due to mixed global cues

After breaking a 9-day winning streak with a drop on Monday, Sensex lost 180 points to end Tuesday around 59,700. Nifty also fell to 17,650 at close, amidst mixed global cues, even as public sector banks and pharma performed well.

Powergrid Corporation, Adani Enterprises, and Ultratech lost the most, while HCL tech led the gainers to bring some positivity among IT stocks.

IT remains bogged down by uncertainty

• Apart from HCL, Nestle and Cipla also made gains, while most IT firms remained in the red zone and dragged the markets down.

• Other than lower than expected earnings, the tech majors in India are also haunted by uncertainty about how much clients in the US will spend amidst recession.

• Apart from IT, FMCG and media were also among the worst-performing sectors on Tuesday, as indices ended in the red for the second straight day.

Global markets send mixed signals

• Outside India, Asian markets remained subdued despite China beating expectations with its 4.5 per cent growth in the past year.

• Nikkei in Japan continued its winning streak with a 0.51 per cent rise, as Tokyo Price Index also jumped.

• European shares went up as earnings for US banks are expected to shed more light on the sector's condition after a crisis.