Sensex, Nifty Decline For Second Straight Session Dragged By Banks

Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's 1.5 per cent fall.

The Indian equity benchmarks fell for second straight session on Tuesday dragged by losses in banking shares as they came under selling pressure a day after the government announced Rs 1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for the Covid-affected and an additional Rs 1.5 lakh crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) that was launched as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat package last year. The Sensex fell as much as 258 points and Nifty 50 index fell below its important psychological level of 15,750. The Sensex ended 186 points lower at 52,550 and Nifty 50 index declined 66 points to close at 15,748. Industry leaders and economists said on Monday government's new guarantees on bank loans to small businesses and tourism sectors, announced by the finance minister, would not be sufficient to boost economic growth. Nine of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's 1.5 per cent fall. Nifty Metal, Private Bank, Bank, Financial Services, Media and Realty indices also dropped between 0.4-1.2 per cent.