New Delhi: The key Indian equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday concluded day’s trade on a choppy note. Keeping an eye on the Ukraine-Russia conflict, investors turned cautious and the BSE Sensex settled 145 points down at 57,996, while the Nifty ended at 17,322, down by 30 points.
Both the indices oscillated between gains and losses throughout the day amid high volatility.
Among individual stocks, Bharti Airtel, M&M, HDFC, Kotak Bank, Nestle India, and Dr Reddy's Labs were the only Sensex gainers on Wednesday as they rallied between 0.5 and 1 per cent. On the Nifty, Divis Labs, ONGC, Adani Ports, HDFC Life, and IOC were the additional gainers, rising up to 3 per cent.
On the flipside, ICICI Bank, SBI, NTPC, Ultratech Cement, Tata Steel, UPL, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, and Sun Pharma declined in the range of 1 to 1.8 per cent.
The BSE Midcap and the BSE Smallcap indices ended mixed with the former dipping 0.03 per cent and the latter advancing 0.42 per cent.
Nine out of the 15 sector gauges, compiled by the National Stock Exchange, settled in the red. Nifty PSU Bank underperformed the index by falling as much as 1.17 per cent.
Meanwhile, shares of Vedant Fashions, the owner of ethnic wear brand Manyavar, listed at Rs 936, an 8 per cent premium over its issue price of Rs 866 per share on the BSE. On the National Stock Exchange, the stock opened at Rs 935 per share. Soon after the listing, the shares surged to a high of Rs 993 before settling at Rs 944, up 9 per cent from its issue price.
The rupee appreciated by 25 paise to close at 75.07 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday, amid signs of de-escalation in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
At the inter-bank forex market, the local unit opened at 75.24 against the greenback and witnessed an intra-day high of 74.96 and a low of 75.24. It finally settled at 75.07, a rise of 25 paise over its previous close.