Mumbai, India (BBN) – The Sensex and Nifty erased early gains to close lower on Wednesday, posting their sixth straight session of declines, dragged down by FMCG, IT and TECk stocks.
The 30-share BSE index ended down 65.6 points or 0.25 per cent at 26,242.38, while the broader NSE index closed 21.1 points or 0.26 per cent lower at 8,061.30, reports The Hindu Business Line.
Among BSE sectoral indices, FMCG index fell the most by 0.95 per cent, followed by IT 0.75 per cent, TECk 0.74 per cent and capital goods 0.4 per cent. On the other hand, realty index was up 1.52 per cent, consumer durables 0.68 per cent, power 0.55 per cent and PSU 0.53 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were Maruti (+1.31%), M&M (+1.22%), Lupin (+1.17%), NTPC (+1.05%) and ONGC (+0.78%), while the major losers were Sun Pharma (-2.25%), ITC (-1.44%), TCS (-1.07%), Hero MotoCorp (-1.00%) and Wipro (-0.91%).
RECORD HIGH
The NASDAQ Composite rose to an all-time high while the Dow Jones industrial average flirted with the 20,000 mark, in a rally fuelled by optimism about US President-elect Donald Trump’s policies.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.31 per cent on Wednesday.
Investors now keep an eye out for the minutes of the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting earlier this month, expected later in the day, for clues about the economy and the central bank’s stance after demonetisation.
The central bank had unexpectedly kept its key policy rate unchanged on December 7, despite calls for action in the face of an intense cash shortage that threatens to slam the brakes on the world’s fastest-growing large economy.
“The feel-good factor has been missing from the market post-demonetisation,” said Neeraj Dewan, director at Quantum Securities.
“We will have to wait and watch if the government announces anything substantial early next year to lift investor sentiment. We can then expect a pre-budget rally.”
Analysts are of the view that markets will trade in a narrow range until the effects of demonetisation pan out with better clarity.
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