Sensex Declines 237 Points, Nifty Settles Below 17,500; HDFC Twins Top Drag

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index slipped 0.21 per cent but the BSE Smallcap index added 0.27 per cent

HDFC, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Motors, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Bank, Titan, Cipla, and Eicher Motors were the top laggards on the Nifty index, down between 1 per cent and 2 per cent. Image: Getty

New Delhi: Sensex and Nifty, the two equity benchmarks, on Wednesday, extended their losses for the third straight session pulled down by HDFC twins amid persistent foreign fund outflows and mixed global trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended day’s trade at 58,339 levels, down 237 points (0.4 per cent), while the NSE Nifty shut shop at 17,476, down 55 points (0.31 per cent).

HDFC, HDFC Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Dr Reddy's Labs, Tata Motors, PowerGrid, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finserv, Kotak Bank, Titan, Cipla, and Eicher Motors were the top laggards on the Nifty index, down between 1 per cent and 2 per cent.

On the upside, ONGC, Apollo Hospitals, Sun Pharma, ITC, UPL, JSW Steel, and Shree Cement added in the range of 1 to 3 per cent.

Meanwhile, in the broader market, the BSE Midcap index slipped 0.21 per cent but the BSE Smallcap index added 0.27 per cent.

Nine out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, ended in the red. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services underperformed the index by falling as much as 0.87 per cent each. Nifty Auto slipped as much as 0.84 per cent. The Nifty Private Bank index was the worst hit as it dipped 1 per cent.

On the upside, the Nifty Metal index gained the most, rising 0.57 per cent.

"Nifty remained volatile with a largely negative bias throughout the session," according to Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

 

In the previous trade, the Sensex declined 388 points to settle at 58,576, while the Nifty went lower by 144 points to finish at 17,530.

Meanwhile, retail inflation soared to a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March, and remained above the Reserve Bank's upper tolerance level, while factory output grew just 1.7 per cent in February, according to official data released on Tuesday.

In Asia, markets settled mostly higher, with Hong Kong, Seoul and Tokyo ending in the green, while Shanghai was lower.

Stocks in the US ended marginally lower on Tuesday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.56 per cent to $105.23 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors remained in selling mode, offloading shares worth a net Rs 3,128.39 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Stock markets will be closed on Thursday for Mahavir Jayanti and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti, as well as on Friday on account of Good Friday.