Sensex, Nifty Extend Losses For Third Day As IT Stocks Drop
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Sensex and Nifty settled on a lower note today.
New Delhi:
Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday extended their fall for the third straight session as a sharp sell-off in information technology stocks countered gains in financials. Investors await minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting due later in the day. Some top Fed policymakers backed two more big interest rate hikes as early as June and July to fight the U.S.’s 40-year-high inflation.
Market participants also feared that rate hikes could bring the world’s largest economy to a standstill, which would unnerve the domestic growth.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 303 points or 0.56 per cent to close at 53,749, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 99 points or 0.62 per cent down to settle at 16,026. Sensex swung in a band of 696 points during today’s session.
Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a weak note as Nifty Midcap 100 fell 2.45 per cent and small-cap slipped 3.46 per cent.
11 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty Pharma underperformed the platform by falling as much as 3.38 per cent, 1.32 per cent and 1.16 per cent, respectively.
On the stock-specific front, Asian Paints was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 8.03 per cent to Rs 2,839. Adani Ports, Divi’s Labs, UPL and Tech Mahindra were also among the laggards.
The overall market breadth stood negative as 715 shares advanced while 2,612 declined on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, Asian Paints, TCS, TechM, Wipro, L&T, Infosys, HCL Tech, SBI, M&M, Titan, PowerGrid and UltraTech Cements were among the top losers.
In contrast, NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC, Nestle India, ICICI Bank, ITC and HDFC Bank settled in the green.