Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Tech Mahindra were among top drags on the Sensex.
The Indian equity benchmarks edged lower on Wednesday led by losses in Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance and Tech Mahindra. However, the losses were capped owing to buying interest in HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank and Power Grid. Meanwhile, Asian markets stood still on Wednesday as the world waited to hear from the U.S. Federal Reserve on when it would stop buying assets and start raising interest rates, possibly piling pressure on its peers to follow.aj
As of 9:26 am, the Sensex was down 154 points at 57,962 and Nifty fell 40 points to 17,284.
Futures have already priced in an end to tapering by March and a first hike to 0.25 per cent in May or June, with rates approaching 0.75 per cent by year end.
Chinese blue chips were little moved as retail sales missed forecasts with a rise of 3.9 per cent while industrial output gained a firmer-than-expected 3.6 per cent.
EUROSTOXX 50 futures did manage to rise 0.2 per cent, while FTSE futures were flat. Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures held steady, having eased overnight.
Back home, eight of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty IT index’s over 1 per cent decline. Nifty Media, FMCG, Financial Services, Pharma, Realty and Healthcare indices were also trading with a negative bias.
On the other hand, select banking, auto and metal shares were witnessing buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap shares were trading on a flat note as Nifty Midcap 100 index was p 0.04 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index rose 0.13 per cent.
Divi’s Labs was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 2.12 per cent to ₹ 4,555. Tech Mahindra, Infosys, TCS, HCL Technologies, Britannia Industries, Wipro, Bajaj Finance, Shree Cements, Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Labs were also among the losers.
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On the flipside, Coal India, Power Grid, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Grasim Industries, HDFC Bank, Indian Oil, Bajaj Auto and Tata Consumer Products were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,629 shares were advancing while 1,141 were declining on the BSE.
