Mumbai, Apr 3 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty settled lower for the second straight session on Wednesday due to profit-booking in select banking and auto stocks amid mixed trends from the global markets and outflow of foreign funds.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 27.09 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 73,876.82 in a volatile trade. During the day, the index oscillated between the high of 74,151.21 and the low of 73,757.23.
The broader NSE Nifty declined 18.65 points or 0.08 per cent to 22,434.65, with 30 components of the 50-share benchmark ending with losses.
“Nifty remained volatile throughout the day after an initial weak start due to negative global cues,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.
He further said that the index may trend towards 22,650. “Support is positioned at 22,350 on the lower end.” Among the Sensex constituents, as many as 16 stocks closed with losses with Nestle India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserve, Titan and JSW Steel being the major laggards.
Index major Reliance, Hindustan Unilever, Maruti and Tata Steel also declined due to selling pressure.
In contrast, NTPC, TCS, Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance bucked the trend and ended the day in green. Axis Bank, Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors also defied the trend.
“Market is focused on the US FED chair’s speech, later today, for more hints. A statement in-line with the last policy is predicted to bring back a respite to the global market,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.
The Reserve Bank’s rate-setting panel on Wednesday started its three-day deliberations on the next set of monetary policy amid expectations that the central bank would once again keep the key interest rate unchanged and focus more on inflation control as concerns over economic growth is abating.
BSE MidCap rose 0.61 per cent, while smallcap index gained 1.18 per cent and largecap fell marginally by 0.05 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Realty fell the most by 2.45 per cent, followed by auto sector benchmark which declined by 0.37 per cent. While FMCG sector index went down by 0.27 per cent, consumer durables slipped 0.23 per cent.
On the other hand, utilities rose 1.45 per cent and power gained 1.20 per cent. The IT sector rose 0.78 per cent, teck climbed 0.73 per cent, while BSE Industrials and BSE Financial Services inched up by 0.48 per cent and 0.45 per cent, respectively. Oil and gas rose 0.43 per cent and bankex gained marginally by 0.07 per cent.
Asian markets were trading in negative with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Japan’s Nikkei 225 losing sharply by 1.22 per cent and 0.97 per cent, respectively. China’s Shanghai Composite was trading at a loss of 0.18 per cent.
In European markets, CAC 40 of France and DAX of Germany were trading in the green, while London’s FTSE 100 was losing. The US markets ended in red on Tuesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,622.69 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.31 per cent to USD 88.20 a barrel.
On Tuesday, the BSE benchmark Sensex declined by 110.64 points or 0.15 per cent to settle at 73,903.91. The NSE Nifty closed 8.70 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 22,453.30. PTI HVA MR MR
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