Indian shares failed to hold early gains and slipped into negative territory a little past noon on Wednesday, and despite briefly recovering into positive zone, turned weak again to eventually close in the red.
The rally on Wall Street and European markets overnight set up a bright start for Indian stocks this morning, but the mood turned cautious as the day progressed and investors resorted to some profit taking after two successive days of gains.
The market also digested a slew of earnings announcements during the course of the session.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 109.94 points or 0.2% at 54,208.53, nearly 580 points off the day’s high of 54,786.00.
The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty, which climbed to 16,399.80, ended the session at 16,240.30, down 19 points or 0.12% from its previous close.
Power Grid Corporation shed about 4.55%. Tech Mahindra, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, Bharti Airtel, NTPC and Wipro lost 1 to 2.2%.
Hindustan Unilever gained more than 2%. UltraTech Cement ended nearly 2% up. Asian Paints gained 1.65%, while Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries ended modestly higher. ITC gained about 0.75% ahead of results.
Tata Consumer Products, up 3.1%, was the top gainer in the Nifty. UltraTech Cement, Shree Cement, Adani Ports, Hindalco and Cipla gained 1.7 to 2%.
BPCL drifted down more than 3%. Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, Tata Motors and JSW Steel also declined sharply.
The market breadth was positive. Out of 3,466 stocks traded on BSE, 1,910 stocks closed higher. 1,440 stocks ended weak, while 116 stocks settled flat.
Sensex, Nifty Fail To Hold Early Gains, Settle Modestly Lower
2022-05-18 11:18:33
