Mumbai, India (BBN) - The Sensex and Nifty were trading marginally lower as investors remained cautious ahead of RBI monetary policy announcement later on Wednesday.
At 1.35pm, the 30-share BSE index Sensex was down 56.45 points or 0.2 per cent at 28,278.75 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty was down 12.35 points or 0.14 per cent at 8,755.95, reports The Hindu Business Line quoting PTI.
Among BSE sectoral indices, consumer durables index was the star-performer and was up 2.94 per cent, followed by metal 0.84 per cent, realty 0.71 per cent and auto 0.66 per cent.
On the other hand, FMCG index was down 0.69 per cent, healthcare 0.42 per cent, banking 0.37 per cent and IT 0.07 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were M&M (+1.6 per cent), TCS (+1.44 per cent), Coal India (+1.44 per cent), Tata Motors (+1.21 per cent) and Cipla (+1.17 per cent), while the major losers were Dr Reddy's (-1.67 per cent), ITC (-1.26 per cent), Axis Bank (-0.99 per cent), Sun Pharma (-0.91 per cent) and Bharti Airtel (-0.89 per cent).
EARLY TRADE
The 30-share index, which had lost 104.12 points in the previous session, rose 56.48 points or 0.19 per cent to 28,391.64, with consumer durables, metal, realty, auto and bank stocks leading the recovery.
The NSE Nifty also rose 10.60 points or 0.12 per cent to 8,778.90.
Brokers said widening of bets by investors and funds on expectations that Reserve Bank might lower key interest rates at its bi-monthly monetary policy review, to be released later in the day, influenced the trading sentiment.
Shares of Tata Steel surged after it was back in the black by posting a consolidated net profit of Rs. 231.40 crore for the December quarter.
ITC shares were down as the government had sold its 2 per cent stake in the FMCG firm that was held through SUUTI.
Shares of Tata group firm Titan Co Ltd also climbed after the company reported 13 per cent increase in net profit at Rs. 255.75 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2016.
Among other Asian markets, Japan’s Nikkei was up 0.28 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.07 per cent in early deals. Shanghai Composite Index shed 0.46 per cent.
The US Dow Jones Industrial Average ended 0.19 per cent higher in yesterday’s trade.
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