Banking, IT stocks bear the brunt on stock markets
Key indices down in 2nd consecutive session; Bucking the broader trend, index heavyweights HDFC and RIL rise upto 1.70%; Indices traded marginally in the red to later rise in afternoon trade and tanked at end of the session
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Who Played Spoilsport
- ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank led selling
- BSE Sensex oscillates over 700 pts
- Sensex ended 104.67 pts at 57,892 points
- NSE Nifty dropped 17.60 pts to 17,304.60
- 19 stocks of Sensex pack suffered losses
- Positive global cues
Mumbai: Key benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty closed lower for a second day on Thursday in a volatile session after a selloff in banking and IT stocks amid lingering geopolitical worries.
After oscillating over 700 points between gains and losses during the day, the 30-share BSE Sensex finally ended 104.67 points or 0.18 per cent lower at 57,892 points. As many as 19 constituents declined while 11 advanced. The broader NSE Nifty dropped 17.60 points or 0.10 per cent to settle the day at 17,304.60 – marking its second straight session of loss.
"Markets kept on vacillating near the previous session's close throughout the day. Many attempts were made by the bulls to take it higher past yesterday's close into positive territory, buy all were futile and markets eventually closed in the red territory. Outcome of state elections and fears of interest rate hikes in India and abroad continue to plague the sentiments," said Devarsh Vakil, deputy head (retail research), HDFC Securities.
"The looming uncertainty around Russia-Ukraine kept the participants on the edge till the end," said Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.
Among Sensex stocks, ICICI Bank fell the most by 2 per cent, followed by UltratechCement (1.9 per cent) and Axis Bank (1.79 per cent). IndusInd Bank declined by 1.27 per cent, Nestle by 0.85 per cent and TCS by 0.76 per cent. Infosys, HDFC Bank, SBI, Kotak Bank, and Bharti Airtel also declined. However, gains in HDFC and Reliance Industries restricted the losses in the Sensex. HDFC rose the most by 1.71 per cent while Reliance Industries advanced by 1.35 per cent. HUL rose by 0.85 per cent and PowerGrid by 0.43 per cent.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital market on Wednesday, as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,890.96 crore, according to stock exchange data.
The BSE Midcap index declined by 0.22 per cent while the BSE Smallcap index by 0.67 per cent. Among sectoral indices, Banking and Healthcare indices fell the most, while Oil & Gas and FMCG were the top gainers. The market width was largely negative as of the total of 3,473 stocks traded, 2,069 stocks declined on BSE. As many as 1,303 advanced and 101 closed unchanged. Elsewhere in Asia, markets ended mostly higher in line with positive Wall Street after Federal Reserve policymakers indicated they are leaning toward more decisive action on inflation, but set no firm targets.
