The Indian benchmark indices ended lower on Wednesday as the Sensex declined 40 points to close at 84,233.64 and the Nifty rose 18 points to close trade at 25,953.85 at 3:30 PM.
In the 30-share BSE Sensex, among the top gainers were stocks like the State Bank of India, Maruti, Trent and IndiGo. Meanwhile, the laggards included stocks such as Asian Paint, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Bharat Electronics.
In the broader markets, the Nifty India FPI 150 rose 0.16 per cent and the Nifty Microcap 250 declined 0.52 per cent. Sectorally, the Nifty Healthcare Index jumped 1.62 per cent and the Nifty IT fell 1.76 per cent.
Previously, during the morning session, the BSE Sensex rang the opening bell this morning near 84,350, jumping 71 points, and the NSE Nifty50 climbed 41 points to inch closer to 26k, at 9:15 AM.
Market participation within the Nifty 50 remained balanced, with 27 constituents gaining and 23 slipping, as the index hovered around 25,942, up a marginal 0.03 per cent.
In contrast, the broader Nifty 500 signalled underlying softness. While the index itself was largely unchanged, declines outnumbered advances, with 285 stocks falling compared to 211 that moved higher.
Global Markets
In Asian trade, South Korea’s Kospi, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, and Shanghai’s SSE Composite index were trading higher. Japan’s Nikkei 225 benchmark remained closed on Wednesday on account of National Foundation Day.
The US equities market ended lower in overnight deals on Tuesday.
Oil Prices Edge Up
Brent Crude, the global oil benchmark, rose 0.76 per cent to USD 69.32 per barrel.
Institutional Investment Activity
According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 69.45 crore on Tuesday. Domestic institutional investors outpaced FIIs, purchasing stocks worth Rs 1,174.21 crore.
