Key Indices Drift Lower Ahead Of MPC Decision

Mumbai: Taking a breather after recent rally, stock markets closed lower on Wednesday as investors turned cautious ahead of the RBI’s monetary policy decision later this week and trade war concerns.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 312.53 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at 78,271.28 with 21 of constituents closing down and nine with gains. During the day, it went lower by 367.56 points or 0.46 per cent to 78,216.25. The NSE Nifty dropped 42.95 points or 0.18 per cent to 23,696.30. The index moved between a high of 23,807.30 and a low of 23,680.45 during the day. Profit-taking after Tuesday’s rally and the rupee plunging to record low levels also hit market sentiment. Sensex had jumped 1,397.07 points and Nifty soared 378.20 points to settle at one-month highs on Tuesday following firm global trends.

“The domestic market traded within a narrow range in negative terrain. Investors are weighing the improved domestic outlook, buoyed by a favourable budget, against lingering global uncertainties stemming from the tariff war. While declining US bond yields and lower crude oil prices have supported market sentiment, the rupee’s depreciation could offset these gains,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE smallcap gauge jumped 1.42 per cent and midcap index climbed 0.69 per cent.

“Markets mirrored weak global cues and ended lower amid selling in select banking, auto, realty and FMCG stocks. While all eyes will be on Friday’s monetary policy announcement, intra-day volatility could intensify over next few sessions,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Among BSE sectoral indices, realty declined 1.66 per cent, FMCG (1.42 per cent), consumer durables (1.21 per cent), consumer discretionary (0.43 per cent) and auto (0.14 per cent). Oil & Gas jumped 1.89 per cent, services (1.59 per cent), metal (1.55 per cent), energy (1.30 per cent) and healthcare (1.21 per cent).

From the 30-share Sensex pack, Asian Paints dropped over 3 per cent after the firm reported a 23.5 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 1,128.43 crore for the third quarter ended December 2024 amid downtrading due to muted demand and weak festive season. Titan, Nestle, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, ITC, Zomato and Bajaj Finserv were also among the laggards. Adani Ports, IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors and HDFC Bank were among the major gainers.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday started deliberations on the monetary policy and the decision will be announced on Friday (February 7). India’s services sector activity expanded at the slowest pace in over two years in January amid softer increases in sales and output, a monthly survey said on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Services PMI Business Activity Index fell from 59.3 in December to 56.5 in January -- its lowest level since November.