Broad‑based weakness hits large‑, mid‑ and small‑cap indices on Tuesday

Mumbai – The Indian stock market recorded a flat start on Tuesday, with the Sensex easing 46 points to 77,307 and the Nifty slipping 33 points to 24,196 by 09:20 hrs. Metal and auto sectors steered the sell‑off, making Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto the day's biggest fallers.

The decline was not confined to large‑cap stocks. The Nifty Mid‑Cap 100 shed 34 points, settling at 63,785, and the Nifty Small‑Cap 100 weakened by 36 points to 19,890. Only the media and PSU banking sub‑indexes managed to stay in positive territory.

Key gainers in the Sensex were Trent, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, Eternal, Titan, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, State Bank of India, Tata Steel and IndiGo. The losing camp comprised HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Infosys, Power Grid, NTPC, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, TCS, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and M&M.

Across Asia, most exchanges ended the session lower, with Shanghai, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Seoul in the red while Tokyo posted gains. U.S. markets ended mixed; the Dow inched up 0.28% and the Nasdaq fell 0.75%.

Experts pointed to the resurgence of U.S. sanctions on Iran and the looming threat of secondary sanctions on countries that trade with Tehran as fresh sources of uncertainty. Elevated crude‑oil prices could further dampen market optimism.