Mumbai, Jan 21 (PTI) Equity benchmarks Sensex and Nifty recovered most of their losses to close lower in a volatile session on Wednesday, continuing their weak momentum for the third consecutive day, as heightened geopolitical tensions kept investors away from riskier assets.
However, selective buying activity in some of the market heavyweights helped the indices restrict the losses, traders said.
Slipping below the 82,000 level, the 30-share BSE Sensex declined 270.84 points, or 0.33 per cent, to 81,909.63. The benchmark tanked 1,056.02 points, or 1.28 per cent, to 81,124.45 during the day.
A total of 2,831 stocks declined while 1,437 advanced and 137 remained unchanged on the BSE. The 50-share NSE Nifty declined 75 points or 0.30 per cent to 25,157.50.
Selling pressure in financial, banking, and consumption stocks amid the rupee diving to its lowest level against the US dollar also added to the pressure, according to traders.
“Domestic markets were gripped by volatility as global risk factors dampened sentiment. However, value buying towards the close helped the market recover some early losses. The weakening rupee and uncertainties surrounding trade ties may prolong this volatility,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.
From the 30-Sensex firms, ICICI Bank, Trent, Bharat Electronics, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Larsen & Toubro, State Bank of India and Maruti were among the biggest laggards.
In contrast, Eternal, UltraTech Cement, InterGlobe Aviation and Reliance Industries were among the gainers.
“The persistent weakness was driven by ongoing global trade and geopolitical concerns, including renewed tariff-related fears that weighed on risk assets ahead of the US President’s speech at Davos.
“A sharp depreciation in the Indian rupee to fresh lows further dampened sentiment, especially in the absence of any meaningful positive surprise from the earnings season. Continued foreign institutional selling added to the pressure, keeping overall risk appetite subdued and market activity largely stock-specific,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.
The BSE midcap gauge tanked 1.01 per cent, and the smallcap index declined 0.80 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, consumer durables dropped 1.24 per cent, PSU Bank (1.07 per cent), financial services (1.02 per cent), bankex (0.94 per cent), capital goods (0.92 per cent), industrials (0.91 per cent) and private banks index (0.80 per cent).
BSE commodities, energy, metal, oil & gas and services were the gainers.
The rupee crashed 76 paise to close at an all-time low of 91.73 (provisional) against the American currency on Wednesday.
Foreign institutional investors offloaded equities worth Rs 2,938.33 crore on Tuesday, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) bought stocks worth Rs 3,665.69 crore, according to exchange data.
“Indian equity markets ended the session on a cautious to negative note as mixed cues from Asian peers and sharp losses in overseas markets, along with continued weakness in the rupee, kept investor risk appetite subdued,” Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, an online trading and wealth tech firm, said.
In Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index settled lower, while South Korea’s Kospi index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ended higher.
Markets in Europe were trading lower.
US markets ended sharply lower on Tuesday. The Nasdaq Composite index tumbled 2.39 per cent, the S&P 500 dropped by 2.06 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average tanked 1.76 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, dropped 1 per cent to USD 64.27 per barrel.
On Tuesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,065.71 points, or 1.28 per cent, to settle at 82,180.47. The Nifty tanked 353 points or 1.38 per cent to end at 25,232.50. PTI SUM SUM BAL BAL
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