Dalal Street witnessed a dip in the Wednesday trading session after the major sell-off triggered across the indices. Investors concerned about the valuation, while a close watch on Q1 results.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index ended 0.45 per cent lower with a loss of over 100 points at 24,324 whereas the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex settled 426 points or 0.53 per cent lower at 79,924 levels on the closing bell.
Nifty Moves
In the Nifty50 index, 23 stocks advanced in the positive territory, while 27 stocks ended in the red territory.
Among the winners, Asian Paints topped the index with 3.15 per cent gain on the reports of price hikes. SBI Life gained 2.23 per cent followed by 1.87 per cent gain in Divis Labs. Britannia, Grasim Industries, HDFC Life, Power Grid and NTPC also traded more than 1 per cent higher.
Among the losers, Mahindra and Mahindra lost 6.6 per cent on XUV price cuts. Tata Steel lost 2.22 per cent, while TCS and Hero Motocorp shredded nearly 2 per cent.
Analyst Note
“Markets had been hitting new highs over the past few weeks and hence investors resorted to profit-taking because of the stretched valuations of Indian equities. While several sectoral stocks have run up sharply ahead of their fundamentals, the upcoming earnings of many of these companies will show if the rise is justified or not. Also, investors would look to churn their portfolios ahead of the Budget and trim their exposure in risky stocks,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.
Sectoral Movement
In terms of sectoral performance, Nifty Bank fell 0.72 per cent, whereas Financial Services fell 0.27 per cent. Further, PSU Banks also plummeted 1.4 per cent.
Metal fell 1.6 per cent and Auto fell 2 per cent, while IT lost more than 1 per cent. However, Pharma and FMCG tarded with slight gains.
The more domestically focussed indices, Mid-cap and Small cap also remained dull throughout the session and ended 0.27 per cent and 0.8 per cent lower respectively.