Mumbai, May 29: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty declined nearly 1 per cent on Wednesday, continuing their losing streak for the fourth day running amid profit-taking by cautious investors ahead of the results of the Lok Sabha polls and weak global trends.
The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 667.55 points or 0.89 per cent to settle at 74,502.90. The index declined below the 75,000 mark to hit the day’s low of 74,454.55, plunging 715.9 points or 0.95 per cent. The BSE benchmark hit its all-time peak of 76,009.68 on May 27.
The NSE Nifty dropped 183.45 points or 0.80 per cent to 22,704.70 amid high volatility. The 50-share barometer hit its lifetime high of 23,110.80 on Monday.
From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries and Infosys were the biggest laggards.
Power Grid, Sun Pharma, Nestle, ITC and Bharti Airtel were the gainers.
“Weak global cues prompted investors to take profits ahead of the US core PCE data, a key gauge of inflation that is anticipated to rise,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.
“Markets continued their corrective trend for another session, losing over half a per cent. After an initial drop, Nifty fluctuated within a range and ultimately closed near the day’s low at 22,704.70 level. With the May derivatives contracts expiry approaching, volatility is expected to remain high,” said Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd.
Analysts also said that soaring global inflation is diminishing investor expectations of a US Fed rate cut in the near term. Broad based weakness is noticed across the sectors with heavy underperformance from financials and IT.
The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.38 per cent while smallcap index climbed 0.23 per cent.
Among the indices, bankex declined 1.37 per cent, financial services (1.32 per cent), oil and gas (0.95 per cent), realty (0.88 per cent) and services (0.60 per cent).
Healthcare, industrials, telecommunication, capital goods, metal and power were the gainers.
“Nifty continued falling for the fourth consecutive day and recorded its biggest fall in 14 sessions,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities, said.
As many as 2,136 stocks declined while 1,680 advanced and 113 remained unchanged on the BSE.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower while Shanghai ended with gains. European markets were trading lower. US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.
The last phase of polling is scheduled for June 1. The results of the ongoing general elections will be declared on June 4.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.88 per cent to USD 84.94 a barrel.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 65.57 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.
After gyrating between gains and losses during the day on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark finally ended 220.05 points or 0.29 per cent lower at 75,170.45. The NSE Nifty dropped 44.30 points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 22,888.15.
Giving thumbs up to the economic management of the Modi government, S&P Global Ratings after a gap of 14 years upgraded India’s sovereign rating outlook to positive from stable on robust growth, improved quality of public spending in the last five years and expectation of broad continuity in reforms and fiscal policies.
S&P, however, retained India’s sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade of ‘BBB-‘. (PTI)
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