Stock Market Slips For 5th Straight Day. Sensex Sheds 344 Points, Nifty Settles Below 17,000

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank, Airtel, Reliance, HDFC Bank, SBI, HUL were among the prime losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Wednesday reversed gains in latter half of the day and ended lower for the fifth straight trading session. The domestic indices succumbed due to unabated selling pressure in select index heavyweights such as Reliance Industries, HDFC twins, Bharti Airtel, and FMCG stocks.

The S&P BSE Sensex, which jumped to a high of 58,474 tracking positive overseas cues, erased gains and plunged to a low of 57,556, down 344 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 declined 71 points to 16,972.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, IndusInd Bank, Airtel, Reliance, HDFC Bank, SBI, HUL were among the prime losers. On the flip side, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Titan, L&T, PowerGrid, Kotak Bank emerged winners.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended on a flat note.

Sectorwise, except metal, pharma and capital goods, all other sectoral indices ended in the red.

In the previous session on Tuesday, the S&P BSE Sensex ended at 57,900, down 338 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 settled with a loss of 111 points at 17,043.

In Asian markets, Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Seoul ended in the green. However, European equity markets were trading with significant losses in the afternoon trade. Major indices on Wall Street settled higher in the overnight trade.

International oil benchmark Brent crude gained 0.72 per cent to $78.01 per barrel.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 3,086.96 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee declined by 25 paise to 82.62 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday amid a strong greenback against major currencies overseas and unabated foreign fund outflows. Traders said negative sentiment in the domestic equity market also hit the domestic currency.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the domestic unit opened strong at 82.32 against the dollar and traded in a range of 82.30 and 82.62. It finally settled at 82.62 (provisional) against the American currency, a fall of 25 paise against its previous close. This is the third consecutive day of decline in the rupee. On Tuesday, the rupee settled at 82.37 against the US dollar.