Mumbai — India’s benchmark equity indices ended slightly lower on Wednesday after a choppy trading session marked by a falling rupee, foreign investor outflows and continued pressure across the broader market.
The Sensex closed at 85,106.81, down 31.46 points from the previous session. The index opened nearly flat at 85,150.64 and moved in a volatile range throughout the day, hitting a high of 85,269.68 and a low of 84,763.64 as selling in auto and FMCG majors offset gains in IT and banking stocks.
The Nifty also finished in the red, closing at 25,986.0, down 46.20 points or 0.18 percent. Analysts said the sustained decline in the rupee — which touched a new record low against the U.S. dollar — prompted foreign portfolio investors to book profits, with the currency’s weakness pressuring dollar-adjusted returns.
Nifty 50 briefly slipped below the key 26,000 level and traded within a narrow range of 25,875 to 25,950 for most of the session.
Among the major losers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra, SBI, Titan, NTPC, Hindustan Unilever, Tata Motors PV, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, Maruti Suzuki, Trent, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel. ICICI Bank, TCS, HDFC Bank, Infosys and Axis Bank ended higher.
Sectoral performance was mixed. Nifty Financial Services gained 64 points or 0.23 percent, Nifty Bank rose 74 points or 0.13 percent, and Nifty IT advanced 284 points or 0.76 percent. By contrast, Nifty Auto slipped 335 points or 1.20 percent and Nifty FMCG dropped 441 points or 0.80 percent.
Broader indices also came under selling pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 declined 594 points or 0.98 percent, the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell 127 points or 0.71 percent, and the Nifty 100 lost 86 points or 0.33 percent. (Source: IANS)
