Sensex Slips 145 Points, Nifty Settles Below 17,350; Banking Stocks Drag
New Delhi: The Indian equity indices finished lower on Wednesday in a highly volatile trading session. Investors turned cautious after a sharp rally in the previous session while keeping an eye on the Ukraine situation. The benchmark BSE Sensex fell 145 points or 0.25 per cent to close at 57,997; while the broader NSE Nifty moved 30 points or 0.17 per cent lower to end at 17,322. Both the indexes fluctuated between gains and losses during the day.
Global stocks, however, rebounded after the Russian defence ministry published footage of its troops returning to base after exercises.
Back home, mid- and small-cap shares finished on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.29 per cent and small-cap shares gained 0.73 per cent.
Nine out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- settled in red. Nifty PSU Bank underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.17 per cent.
On the stock-specific front, State Bank of India (SBI) was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 1.87 per cent to Rs 515. ICICI Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel and UltraTech Cement were also among the laggards.Â
In contrast, Divi's Lab, ONGC, Adani Ports, Indian Oil Corp and HDFC Life were among the gainers
On BSE, the overall market breadth was positive as 2,016 shares were advancing while 1,332 were declining.
On the 30-share BSE platform, SBI, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv attracted the most losses with their shares sliding as much as 2 per cent.
Meanwhile, shares of Vedant Fashions -- owner of the Manyavar brand -- got listed at a premium of 8 per cent. The stock settled 9.04 per cent higher at Rs 944.25 on the first trading day.
Sensex and Nifty had witnessed a sharp rebound on Tuesday followed by a crash on the previous day.
"Technical indicators suggest a volatile movement in the (Indian) market in the range of 17,200-17,800. As such, we retain our cautious stance and advise the traders to refrain from building a fresh buying position, until we see further decisive movement in the market," said Vijay Dhanotiya, Lead of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited.
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