Stock Market: Sensex Sheds 294 Points, Nifty Closes Below 18,650 Post-RBI MPC Outcome. IT, FMCG Top Drag

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, TechM, M&M, Tata Motors, Axis Bank were among the losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday closed sharply lower due to weekly F&O expiry and profit booking following the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy outcome. The domestic indices oscillated between gains and losses amid volatility. The S&P BSE Sensex plunged 294 points to 62,849 levels. On the other hand, Nifty50 settled at 18,635, down 92 points.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, L&T, PowerGrid, HDFC, Reliance, and HDFC Bank were the only gainers. On the flipside, Kotak Bank, Sun Pharma, TechM, M&M, Tata Motors, Axis Bank were among the losers.

Sun Pharma, Kotak bank, Tech M, M&M, Axis Bank, HUL, Tata Motors, TCS, Nestle India, and Bajaj twins dropped between 1 per cent and 3 per cent.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap index dropped 0.87 per cent, while the BSE Smallcap index slipped 0.47 per cent.

Most sectors traded in sync and ended lower wherein realty, IT and FMCG were the top losers. The broader indices too witnessed profit taking and lost in the range of 0.5-0.9 per cent. The selling was seen across the board with all except the Nifty Metal index closing up to 1.6 per cent lower.

In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE Sensex settled at 63,143, up 350 points, while the Nifty50 shut shop at 18,726, up 127 points.

"Therefore, close and continued vigil on the evolving inflation outlook is absolutely necessary, especially as the monsoon outlook and the impact of El Nino remain uncertain," he said. "Our goal is to achieve the inflation target of 4 per cent and keeping inflation within the comfort band of 2-6 per cent is not enough." Dhiraj Relli, MD and CEO, HDFC Securities, said, "The RBI MPC left the repo rates unchanged at its meeting on June 8 in line with street expectations. MPC members were in a sweet spot in the backdrop of higher than expected GDP numbers and moderating headline and core inflation print".

In Asian markets, Seoul, and Tokyo ended lower, while Shanghai and Hong Kong settled in the green. Equity markets in Europe were trading mostly in positive territory. The US markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.31 per cent to $76.71 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 1,382.57 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee fell 5 paise to close at 82.57 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday, after the Reserve Bank kept the key interest rate unchanged. At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened at 82.59 against the dollar, and finally settled at 82.57 (provisional), down 5 paise from its previous close amid a negative trend in domestic equities.

During the day, the rupee touched a high of 82.53 and a low of 82.61 against the greenback as a weak dollar and softening of crude oil prices cushioned the downside.On Wednesday, the rupee had settled at 82.52 against the dollar.