Market Trades Tepid On Wednesday; Auto Weighs, Banks Rally

The Indian stock market traded dull in the Wednesday trading session as the majority of indices ended in the red zone. However, Nifty Bank and Finance displayed gains in the trading session.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index ended 0.18 per cent lower at 23,516 whereas the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex settled higher with  37 points gain at 77,338 levels on the closing bell. 

Nifty Moves

In the Nifty50 index, 11 stocks including Banks and IT advanced with gains, 39 stocks ended in the red territory.

HDFC Bank topped the index with more than 3 per cent gains followed by 2.92 per cent gain in Axis Bank. ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank and IndusInd Bank also gained more than 1 per cent. IT stocks, Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and HCL Technology also ended with gains.

In the laggards, Titan shredded 3.53 per cent, while Larsen and Toubro, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, BPCL, Bajaj Auto and Coal India lost more than 2 per cent. 

Analyst Note

“Strong buying in banking stocks helped Sensex sail through in a highly volatile trading session while Nifty ended weak as investors booked profit in auto, metals, oil and gas, telecom and realty shares after the recent upsurge. Ahead of the Budget, markets may see stock & sector-specific activities in hopes the government may increase outlay for sectors to push growth,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities. 

Sectoral Movement

In terms of sectoral performance, Nifty Bank rallied nearly 2 per cent, whereas Nifty Finance gained 1.59 per cent. Nifty IT also ended with 0.36 per cent gain.

Nifty Auto slipped 1.3 per cent followed by 0.91 per cent and 0.92 per cent loss in FMCG and Pharma. Nifty Realty lost more than nearly 3 per cent, while Nifty Energy lost 1.71 per cent. 

The more domestically focussed indices, mid-cap shredded nearly 1 per cent, whereas Small cap dipped 0.46 per cent.