India’s BSE Sensex reversed course on Tuesday, ending a four-session winning streak to close about 0.3% lower at 78,429. The decline came as investors locked in profits amid renewed geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East, which drove oil prices higher, and ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s policy decision due tomorrow.
The RBI is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but markets will be watching closely for any shift toward a more hawkish tone, with inflation still running above the central bank’s comfort range. At the same time, traders continued to adapt to the new closing-auction mechanism introduced on Monday for stocks with futures and options contracts.
On the stock front, the main laggards included Hindustan Unilever (-1.7%), NTPC (-1.6%), HDFC Bank (-1.5%), Reliance Industries (-1.2%), IndiGo (-1.1%) and Tech Mahindra (-0.6%). In contrast, Trent (1.2%), Bajaj Finance (1.1%), Bharat Electronics Limited – BEL (0.9%), Tata Steel (0.6%), Mahindra & Mahindra (0.6%) and Bajaj Finserv (0.6%) recorded the strongest gains.
