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Indian equity markets closed lower on Wednesday as investors turned cautious following the Reserve Bank of India's shift towards calibrated tightening, amid concerns over inflation, while the rupee weakened to a five-month low.
The NIFTY 50 index closed at 22,603.05, declining 173.05 points or 0.76 per cent, while the BSE Sensex closed at 72,638.70, down 429.11 points or 0.59 per cent. Vikram Kasat, Chief Business Officer Advisory and Dealing at PL Capital, said Indian equities were witnessing some profit-taking after the sharp rebound of the previous two sessions. Indian equities are witnessing some profit-taking after the sharp rebound of the previous two sessions, with the Sensex and Nifty declining amid caution ahead of the RBI policy decision, Kasat said. The RBI's 25 bps repo-rate hike to 5.50 per cent, along with its shift towards calibrated tightening, added to concerns around inflation, elevated crude prices and the external environment. Selling remained broad-based, with pressure seen across several major sectors. Nifty Auto declined 1.44 per cent, Nifty FMCG lost 0.99 per cent, Nifty IT fell 1.31 per cent, Nifty Metal declined 2.31 per cent, Nifty Pharma fell 0.42 per cent, Nifty Realty lost 1.85 per cent, Nifty Consumer Durables declined 1.32 per cent and Nifty Oil & Gas fell 0.51 per cent. Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Media gained 0.60 per cent, Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.92 per cent, and Nifty Private Bank gained 0.13 per cent. Among Nifty 50 stocks, Kotak Bank, BSE, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, HDFC Life and Coal India were among the top gainers. Titan, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco, JSW Steel and BEL were among the top losers. The Indian rupee also remained under pressure, depreciating 35 paise to Rs 96.77/USD at the time of reporting, marking a five-month low. Crude oil prices added to the pressure, with Brent crude oil rising 1 per cent to USD 101.59 per barrel at the time of reporting. In precious metals, gold prices declined 0.50 per cent to Rs 1,49,375/10 grams for 24 karats, while silver prices fell 1.07 per cent to Rs 2,24,800 per kg at the time of reporting. Riyank Arora, Associate Vice President HNI & Derivatives, Hedged.in, said, The recent weakness has brought the indices closer to their key support levels. While profit booking and selling pressure remain visible, the broader trend will remain intact as long as these supports hold. For now, a buy-on-dips approach in fundamentally strong and technically sound names remains preferable, with strict risk management and close monitoring of the key support zones. Asian markets also closed mostly lower. Japan's Nikkei 225 declined 0.54 per cent to 70,303, while Singapore's Straits Times fell 1.63 per cent to 5,608. Hong Kong's Hang Seng declined 0.79 per cent to 24,090, while Taiwan's weighted index fell 0.03 per cent to 49,806. South Korea's KOSPI declined more than 2 per cent to the 6,803 level. (ANI)
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