Profit booking led Sensex, Nifty to end lower after 3-day rally
BSE Sensex declined 223.94 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 65,393.90 and NSE Nifty fell by 55.10 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 19,384.30
File Photo.
Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices ended lower on Wednesday after three days of gain amid profit-taking ahead of key macroeconomic data announcements as well as the first quarter earnings from TCS and HCL Technologies.
Fag-end selling pulled down the 30-share BSE Sensex lower, which declined 223.94 points or 0.34 per cent to settle at 65,393.90. During the day, it hit a low of 65,320.25 and a high of 65,811.64. The NSE Nifty fell by 55.10 points or 0.28 per cent to end at 19,384.30.
"Markets showed resilience in early trades, but the upward march had been showing signs of fatigue of late and investors today pulled the plug ahead of key domestic inflation data and the US CPI inflation.. As the global economy remains under pressure, local markets are likely to witness bouts of profit-taking during such prolonged rallies," said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.
India's industrial production rose 5.2 per cent in May, according to the official data released on Wednesday evening. Retail inflation in June rose to a three-month high of 4.81 per cent. The country's largest software exporter TCS on Wednesday reported a 16.83 per cent jump in its June quarter net profit at Rs 11,074 crore.
From the Sensex pack, Infosys, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Maruti, HDFC and Tata Steel were the major laggards. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, Nestle, Titan, State Bank of India and Reliance Industries were the gainers.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.57 per cent and midcap index jumped 0.48 per cent. Among the indices, teck fell by 0.66 per cent, IT declined 0.64 per cent, telecommunication (0.50 per cent) and consumer durables (0.30 per cent).
Industrials, FMCG, healthcare, metal, oil & gas and realty were the gainers. "The range-bound movement in the Indian indices was influenced by the likelihood of subdued IT earnings," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned net sellers as they offloaded equities worth Rs 1,242.44 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data. In Asian markets, Seoul and Hong Kong settled in the green while Tokyo and Shanghai ended lower. Equity markets in Europe were trading in the green. The US markets ended in the positive territory on Tuesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.23 per cent to USD 79.58 a barrel.
The BSE benchmark had advanced 273.67 points or 0.42 per cent to settle at 65,617.84 on Tuesday. The Nifty climbed 83.50 points or 0.43 per cent to end at 19,439.40.
