Extending their previous day’s fall, the domestic equity market ended lower on Wednesday, due to unabated foreign fund outflows and weak trends in the US and Asian markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex went lower by 286.06 points, or 0.44 per cent, to settle at 65,226.04. During the day, it plunged 633.33 points, or 0.96 per cent, to 64,878.77.
The Nifty declined 92.65 points, or 0.47 per cent, to end at 19,436.10.
Among the Sensex firms, Axis Bank fell over 4 per cent, emerging as the biggest laggard. State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Maruti and Larsen & Toubro were the other major laggards.
Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, HCL Technologies, and Asian Paints were among the gainers.
Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services, said, “Strong US job data is reinforcing Fed’s hawkish stance and multi-year high US bond yields is signalling an impending interest rate hike. Globally, investors are adopting risk-averse strategies due to inflation concerns and the strengthening US dollar. And in India, despite a robust economy, premium valuations of midcaps and recent rally is augmenting consolidation.”
He added that interest-rate-sensitive sectors like real estate, banking, and metals are the most impacted category, while the FMCG sector is more optimistic in expectation of near-normal monsoon & festival demand. Auto is consolidating amid mixed growth numbers and in this weak period, large-cap are a trading safe to hold on.”
Rupak De, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities, said, “The Nifty exhibited volatility throughout the day but managed to recover from the lowest point of the day before closing. The overall market trend remains bearish, with the Nifty trading below critical moving averages. Looking ahead, the market may continue to follow a bearish trend as long as it remains below 19500, with initial support likely around 19330, a fall below the said level might take the Nifty towards 19250-19200.”
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled lower while Shanghai ended in the positive territory.
European markets were trading mostly in the green. The US markets ended with over 1 per cent fall on Tuesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 2,034.14 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.91 per cent to USD 90.09 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark had declined 316.31 points, or 0.48 per cent, to settle at 65,512.10 on Tuesday. The Nifty fell 109.55 points, or 0.56 per cent, to end at 19,528.75.
(With Inputs From PTI)
