Sensex falls over 150 points, Nifty tests 19,950; Titagarh Rail down 6%; IOL Chemicals jumps 11%

Indian equity benchmarks traded lower in Wednesday's early deals amid a highly volatile session. The domestic indices were dragged by banks, financials, automobile, metals, technology and consumer durable stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 159 points or 0.24 per cent to trade at 67,062, while the NSE Nifty was down 36 points or 0.18 per cent to trade at 19,957. Broader markets (mid- and small-cap shares) were also weak as Nifty Midcap 100 was down 1.09 per cent and small-cap shed 0.91 per cent.

Domestic benchmarks, which were hovering around record highs, fell despite retail inflation print for August eased and industrial output for July rose. CPI inflation eased in August to 6.83 per cent, aided by a moderation in food prices. Industrial output rose at its fastest pace in five months in July to 5.7 per cent, supported by strong mining and electricity activity.

On the global front, Asian markets were subdued. Overnight, Wall Street equities closed lower overnight ahead of key US inflation data, due later today.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Rs 1,047 crore worth of shares on a net basis during the previous session, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought Rs 259 crore worth of shares, exchange data showed.

"More pain is likely in the mid-and small-cap segments. On the other hand, high quality large-caps in banking, capital goods and IT are on stronger wicket. More selling in the broader market and buying in large-caps is likely in the near-term," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

14 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Auto, Nifty Metal, Nifty OIT and Nifty Consumer Durables were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.39 per cent, 0.59 per cent, 0.80 per cent, 0.52 per cent, 0.28 per cent and 0.56 per cent, respectively. On the flip side, Nifty FMCG edged 0.15 per cent higher.

On the stock-specific front, HDFC Life was the top loser in the Nifty pack as the stock cracked 1.28 per cent to trade at Rs 652.5. ICICI Bank, M&M, Bajaj Finserv and Adani Ports fell up to 0.96 per cent.

In contrast, Grasim Industries, Coal India, ITC, UltraTech Cement and BPCL were among the top gainers.

The overall market breadth was slightly negative as 1,309 shares were advancing while 1,499 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, ICICI Bank, L&T, M&M, Axis Bank and SBI were among the top laggards.

Also, Titagarh Rail Systems, Max Healthcare Institute, Macrotech Developers and RattanIndia Power tanked up to 6.20 per cent. On the other hand, IOL Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, Ajanta Pharma, Stylam Industries, KEC International and GTL Infra jumped up to 11.38 per cent.

On Tuesday, Sensex had climbed 94 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at 67,221, while Nifty had moved 3 points or 0.02 per cent to close at 19,993.

 

Nifty outlook

 

"The bearish swing evolved on anticipated lines with bulls regrouping once in the 19,944-region ear marked yesterday towards this end. The trend appears to be evenly poised. Bearish objective is modestly placed at 19,690, while there are equal prospects of resumption of uptrend aiming 20,230, or even 20,600 without further drama in the near term, especially as long as Nifty manages to float above 20,000," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

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