Key indices fail to hold on to initial gains

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty surrendered early gains to close lower for the second straight day on Thursday, tracking losses in the most valuable firm Reliance Industries, Bharati Airtel and L&T amid a sluggish trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex failed to hold on to initial gains and declined 151.48 points or 0.18 per cent to settle at 82,201.16 points. During the day, it dropped 222.2 points or 0.26 per cent to 82,130.44. The NSE Nifty dipped 53.60 points or 0.21 per cent to 25,145.10 despite a positive beginning of the trade. The mcap on BSE fell by Rs0.55 lakh crore to Rs4,65,68,901.25 (Rs465.68 lakh cr or $5.55 trn).

“Markets ended weak in a volatile trading session led by profit-taking in Reliance Industries. Globally, most of the equity indices were sluggish to mixed and are awaiting key US data on Friday, which would provide some hint on the Federal Reserve chief’s likely stance on the interest rate in this month's policy announcement,” said Prashanth Tapse, senior V-P (research), Mehta Equities Ltd.

Among the 30 Sensex firms, Reliance Industries declined over 1 per cent. Tata Motors, Nestle, Bharti Airtel, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel and Mahindra & Mahindra were other big laggards. In contrast, Titan, ITC, Infosys, HCL Technologies, Tata Steel and State Bank of India were among the biggest gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge climbed by 0.56 per cent, and the midcap index rose by 0.27 per cent. Among the indices, realty declined 0.95 per cent, capital goods (0.61 per cent), industrials (0.38 per cent), power (0.37 per cent) and oil & gas (0.30 per cent). Healthcare, commodities, consumer discretionary, telecommunication, consumer durables, IT and teck were the gainers.

“Global stocks were largely muted on Tuesday as traders prepared for data releases that will offer insight about the health of the US economy and the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path,” said Deepak Jasani, head (retail research), HDFC Securities.

“The benchmark indices continued to trade with minor losses due to concerns of a slowdown in the US and Chinese economy. The market is now seeking new catalysts, particularly in how the Fed evaluates the challenge of achieving a soft landing,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Service.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Hong Kong settled lower, while Shanghai ended higher. European markets were trading mostly lower in mid-session deals.