Equity benchmarks capitulated to break their winning run of two sessions in the last hour of trading on Thursday, with IT, finance and bank stocks playing poorly amid expiry of monthly derivative contracts. Traders said a depreciating rupee also weighed on the sentiment.
After remaining in positive territory for most part of the session, the 30-share BSE Sensex suddenly came under selling pressure on the fag-end side, closing 310.71 points or 0.53 per cent lower at 58,774.72. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty fell 82.50 points or 0.47 per cent to 17,522.45.
Bajaj Finance led the Sensex constituents, falling 1.81 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, Infosys, TCS, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, NTPC and Larsen & Toubro. Only five counters registered gains – Maruti Suzuki, SBI, Dr Reddy’s, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Titan, rising up to 0.46 per cent.
“Amid rising volatility, investors reduced their long positions on the day of the F&O closing due to the uncertain global economic outlook. There are concerns that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday will help rein in inflation. Further, the benchmark indices in the last two sessions had come close to slipping into negative territory, and hence expected corrections. was.”
In the broader market, the BSE Midcap gauge rose 0.20 per cent and the Smallcap index rose 0.17 per cent. In the BSE sectoral index, IT and Tech fell 0.88 per cent, FMCG 0.45 per cent, Oil and Gas 0.40 per cent and Industry 0.35 per cent. Consumer discretionary goods and services, consumer durables, metals and realty ended in the green.
Ahead of the Jackson Hole Symposium, investors around the world are eagerly anticipating the Fed Chair’s speech to evaluate the monetary policy outlook and determine whether the central bank can achieve a soft landing for the economy.
“Rise in crude oil prices as Saudi Arabia suggests OPEC+ supply may be reduced to address market volatility. Although Indian equities are trading at a premium to other emerging markets, FIIs continue to trade at a premium.” The support is guiding the domestic market,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.
Elsewhere in Asia, markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Shanghai ended higher. Shares in Europe were trading in positive territory during the mid-sessional trades. Wall Street posted gains on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.17 per cent to $101.3 per barrel. The rupee on Thursday closed 7 paise lower at 79.93 (provisional) after moving in a narrow range against the US dollar. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 23.19 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
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