Sensex falls for second straight day, Nifty ends flat; IT, FMCG stocks drag

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Indian benchmark equity indices ended mixed on Wednesday amid volatility. After hitting an intraday low of 51,450.58, Sensex erased most of the losses and settled 85.40 points or 0.16% lower at 51,849.48. Nifty, on the other hand, closed at 15,576.20, up 1.35 points or 0.01%.

Gainers & losers

IndusInd Bank, PowerGrid, RIL, Bajaj Auto and Maruti, closing over 1% each were among the top Sensex gainers. ITC, TechM, Axis Bank, Asian Paint and Kotak Bank were among the laggards.

“Ahead of the MPC policy, the domestic market continued its volatility with a mixed bias. Selling was witnessed in Financials, IT and FMCG stocks but it reduced towards the close of trading. Weakness across US and Asian markets also added to the negative trend. PSU banks attracted buyers in hopes that the government will soon finalize the list for privatisation.  In the policy, RBI is expected to focus on economic growth by maintaining the status quo on policy rates and ensuring liquidity while keeping an eye on the inflationary pressure due to rising commodity prices” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Sectoral trends Most sectoral indices on the NSE closed in the green. Nifty PSU Bank, closing over 3% higher, was the top sectoral gainer. Market participants turned bullish on the sector after NITI Aayog reportedly submitted a list of PSU banks to be privatised to the Core Group of Secretaries on Disinvestment. Nifty Metal advanced 2.18%,  Nifty Auto gained 1.82%, Nifty Realty index jumped 1.45% and Nifty Pharma added 0.67%. On the other hand, Nifty Bank ended with marginal gains of 0.10%. Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG indices dropped 0.75% and 0.52% respectively.

Broader market

BSE Midcap & BSE SmallCap continued their uptrend as the overall market breadth remained firmly in the favour of bulls as 2,139 shares advanced versus 974 stocks declining whereas 171 scrips remained unchanged. The BSE MidCap index hit a record peak of 22,163 on an intraday basis and closed 1.75% higher at 22,140.

Likewise, the BSE SmallCap index ended at 23,522 up 1.29% and touched a new high of 23,841.

Global markets

Bourses in Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the negative territory, while Tokyo and Seoul rose.

Equities in Europe were trading with gains in mid-session deals.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.98% at $70.94 per barrel.