The Sensex and Nifty closed at their lowest in nearly a month on Tuesday as a slump in European shares offset earlier gains after investors awarded the first US presidential debate to Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump.

In a sign that investors saw Clinton as the winner, Asian shares recouped early losses, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rising 0.60 per cent.

The broader NSE index ended 16.65 points or 0.19 per cent lower at 8706.40, after earlier gaining as much as 0.52 per cent.

The benchmark BSE index closed 70.58 points or 0.25 percent lower at 28,223.70. Both indexes recorded their lowest close since August 29.

Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index gained the most by 0.7 per cent, healthcare 0.59 per cent, TECk 0.36 per cent and consumer durables 0.27 per cent. On the other hand, capital goods index was down 1.12 per cent, oil & gas 0.72 per cent, metal 0.68 per cent and infrastructure 0.64 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were TCS (+1.42%), Lupin (+1.34%), Wipro (+0.99%), Asian Paints (+0.9%) and Sun Pharma (+0.7%), while the major losers were Bharti Airtel (-2.14%), Adani Ports (-2.05%), L&T (-1.61%), GAIL (-1.07%) and ONGC (-1.00%).

“With the way in which the first round of debate took place and the way Hillary Clinton has taken the lead, it appears that America wants to have a progressive government in the form of Clinton, and I think the market has reacted to it,” said Deven Choksey, managing director at KR Choksey Securities.

Global markets

Asian shares recovered from an early bout of nerves while the Mexican peso surged on Tuesday as investors awarded the first US presidential debate to Democrat Hillary Clinton over Republican Donald Trump.

Markets have tended to see Clinton as the candidate of the status quo, while few are sure what a Trump presidency might mean for US foreign policy, international trade deals or the domestic economy.

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