Stock Market Highlights: Nifty Resumes Decline After One-Day Breather

The NSE Nifty 50 and BSE Sensex ended with marginal losses on Wednesday, as ITC Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro Ltd. share prices dragged. The index erased most of its morning gains, as earnings reports did little to lift investor sentiments.

The Nifty 50 ended 42.95 points, or 0.18% down at 23,696.30, and the Sensex ended 312.53 points, or 0.40% down at 78,271.28.

Earlier in the day, the Nifty 50 rose 0.29% to the day's high of 23,807.30, and the Sensex rose 0.19% to the day's high of 78,735.41.

In last hour of trade, Nifty 50 declined 0.25% to the day's low of 23,680.45, and Sensex fell 0.45% to the day's low of 78,226.26.

During the session, Info Edge Ltd., Page Industries Ltd., Eveready Industries Ltd., Abbott India Ltd. and Arvind Fashions Ltd. released their quarterly results. Track NDTV Profit's earnings blog for faster updates.

The markets opened strong but faced resistance around 23,800 levels and reversed, said Aditya Gaggar, director, Progressive Shares.

"Nifty 50 faced resistance at 23,780, where both the Falling Wedge pattern and the 50DMA came into play. This level now acts as an immediate support, while on the downside 23,520 will continue to act as a support. The outlook suggests that it’s a 'buy on dips' market, with a good chance of breaking the resistance and moving up to 24,000," he said.

Shares of Larsen & Toubro Ltd., ITC Ltd., State Bank of India, Titan Co., and Reliance Industries Ltd. weighed the Nifty 50.

While those of HDFC Bank Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Ltd., and Adani Ports Ltd. cushioned fall.

On NSE, nine out of 12 sectors advanced, and three declined. The NSE Nifty Realty declined the most, and the NSE Nifty Media rose the most.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended 0.69% and 1.42% higher, respectively.

On BSE, 15 sectors advanced and six declined out of 21. The BSE Oil and Gas rose the most, and the BSE Realty declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,550 stocks advanced, 1,416 stocks declined, and 139 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.