Mumbai– Profit booking, along with a slight rise in global crude oil prices and depreciation in the Indian rupee, pulled the key Indian equity indices lower on Wednesday after three consecutive days of gains.
Sector-wise, except for IT and FMCG stocks, all others witnessed heavy selling pressure led by auto, finance and banking counters.
Index-wise, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex settled at 34,779.58 points, down 382.90 points or 1.09 per cent.
The NSE Nifty closed at 10,453.05 points, down 131.70 points, or 1.24 per cent.
The volatility during the trade session can be gauged by the 878.27 points swing in Sensex from an intra-day high of 35,605.43 points and a low of 34,727.16.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said: “Market slid below 10,500 mark as rise in oil price and volatility in INR influenced investors to book profit.”
“Global market remain mixed ahead of the release of FOMC minutes later in the day to get cues about rate hike trajectory. Currently the market valuation has moderated to some extent and bond yield has reduced. However, the outcome of Q2 earnings will have a say on the market.”
According to Abhijeet Dey, Senior Fund Manager-Equities, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund: “Initial positive momentum gave way to heavy selling pressure as stock markets in India wiped off intra-day gains and plummeted into negative terrain.”
“Selling in auto and financial stocks put pressure on bourses. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump continued his criticism of the Federal Reserve, calling it his biggest threat as it was raising rates too fast. Trump had previously said that the Fed has ‘gone crazy’ and attributed last week’s plunge on Wall Street to the US central bank.”
On Wednesday, the Indian rupee closed at 73.60, down 14 paise from its previous close of 73.46 per US dollar.
In addition, brent crude oil prices inched up to over $81.60 a barrel.
Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors bought stocks worth Rs 140.02 crore, whereas domestic institutional investors sold scrip Rs 343.11 crore.
HDFC Securities’ Retail Research Head Deepak Jasani said: “Technically, with the Nifty correcting sharply, traders will need to watch if the index can now hold above the immediate supports of 10,410 points; else a further correction is likely.”
The top gainers in the Sensex were ITC, up 1.34 per cent at Rs 286.35; Coal India, up 1.28 per cent at Rs 280.05; Wipro up 1.20 per cent at Rs 324 ;Infosys up 1.16 per cent at Rs 704.50; and Hindustan Uniliver, up 1.08 per cent at Rs 1,561.05.
Major losers included Yes Bank, down 6.85 per cent at Rs 231.75; Adani Ports, down 5.41 per cent at Rs 315; Maruti Suzuki, down 3.79 per cent at Rs 6,878.70; Tata Motors, down 3.40 per cent at Rs179.20; and Tata Steel, down 3.39 per cent at Rs 554.65 per share. (IANS)
