Key Indices Drift Lower In Sideways Trading

Mumbai: Benchmark Sensex declined by 110 points in a see-saw trade on Thursday, marking its third straight session of losses amid continued FII selling, disappointing quarterly results and soaring inflation. Equity markets will remain closed on Friday for Guru Nanak Jayanti.

The 30-share Sensex dropped 110.64 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 77,580.31 in a lacklustre trade. The index started on a positive note, but lost momentum later due to increased selling. During the day, it dropped 266.14 points or 0.34 per cent to 77,424.81. Broader NSE Nifty dropped by 26.35 points or 0.11 per cent to close at 23,532.70, extending its losing streak to the sixth day. However, the market capitalisation (mcap) of all the BSE-listed companies rose by Rs1.14 lakh crore to Rs4,30,60,789.47 cr (Rs430.60 lakh cr or $5.10 trn).

“The domestic market experienced a lacklustre trading, but some stability was observed throughout the day, from the low. The sustainability of this trend remains uncertain as FIIs continue to be on the selling side. But on a positive note the degree of selling is reducing,” Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.83 per cent and midcap index went up by 0.41 per cent.

“After a brief positive start driven by gains in HDFC Bank, Reliance, and major IT stocks, both Sensex and Nifty reversed the course as global pressures and persistent foreign investor selling weighed on sentiment,” said Vikram Kasat, head (advisory-PL Capital) Prabhudas Lilladher.

Among sectoral indices, utilities declined 0.88 per cent, oil & gas (0.48 per cent), power (0.37 per cent), services (0.09 per cent), metal (0.07 per cent) and consumer durables (0.05 per cent). Realty jumped 1.11 per cent, BSE consumer discretionary (0.81 per cent), telecommunication (0.64 per cent), auto (0.60 per cent) and commodities (0.33 per cent).

“Markets witnessed a range-bound session with a negative bias as selective selling in FMCG, oil & gas and power stocks weighed on the sentiment. Despite the lacklustre trend, selective buying in realty, auto, banking and telecom stocks kept the losses under check,” added Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd.