Stock Market: Sensex Declines 185 Points, Nifty Holds 16,500 Amid High Volatility

Stock update: On the BSE, M&M was the top gainer, up 1.32 per cent, followed by HDFC, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ITC, and others

New Delhi: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday extended their loss for the second straight day amid sharp volatility.

The indices oscillated between gains and losses throughout the session eventually ended up in the red as the country’s economic growth slowed to the lowest in the fiscal year during the fourth quarter of FY22.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 185 points (0.33 per cent) to close at 55,381, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 62 points (0.37 per cent) down to end at 16,523.

On the BSE, M&M was the top gainer, up 1.32 per cent, followed by HDFC, Kotak Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ITC, and others. On the flip side, Nestle was the prime loser, down 2.99 per cent, followed by TechM, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, HUL, PowerGrid, and others.

The overall market breadth stood positive as 1,854 shares advanced, while 1,471 declined on the BSE.

In the broader markets, midcap and smallcap shares finished on a slight positive note as Nifty Midcap 100 edged 0.04 per cent higher and smallcap rose 0.28 per cent.

On the National Stock Exchange platform, nine out of the 15 sector gauges settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Consumer Goods underperformed the platform by falling as much as 1.41 per cent, 1.21 per cent and 0.72 per cent, respectively.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the Sensex went lower by 359 points (0.64 per cent) to settle at 55,566, while the Nifty sank 76 points (0.46 per cent) to end at 16,584.

In Asian markets, Shanghai and Hong Kong were trading lower, while Tokyo quoted with gains. Stock markets in the US had ended lower on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.49 per cent to $117.27 per barrel.

Foreign institutional investors offloaded shares worth Rs 1,003.56 crore on Tuesday, as per stock exchange data.

"A clear trend is unlikely to emerge in the market in the near-term. At lower levels DIIs and retail investors will buy, pushing the market up; at higher levels FPIs will sell, pushing the market down. The dominant factor determining the market trend, globally, will be inflation and how far central banks, particularly the Fed, will go in hiking rates to contain inflation," V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services told the PTI.