Sensex slips over 100 points, Nifty trades below 17,650; Brightcom Group, ICICI Lombard fall up to 5%

Indian equity benchmarks fell in early trade on Wednesday, extending their losing run for the third straight session. The domestic indices traded lower today dragged by technology and consumer goods stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack slipped 108 points or 0.18 per cent to trade at 59,619, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 22 points or 0.12 per cent down to trade at 17,639. However, mid- and small-cap shares were up as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.34 per cent and small-cap gained 0.38 per cent.

Investors should closely watch the Q4 results along with positive management commentary, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign institutional investors continued to sell for the second consecutive session. FIIs sold Rs 810.60 crore worth of equities on Tuesday.

Six out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the National Stock Exchange -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.80 per cent and 0.35 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Apollo Hospitals was the top Nifty gainer as the stock cracked 1.74 per cent to trade at Rs 4,263. HCL Technologies, Infosys, Asian Paints and Tata Consumer Products fell up to 1.63 per cent.

In contrast, Divi's Lab, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Bajaj Auto and Hindalco rose up to 2.16 per cent.

The overall market breadth was strong as 1,853 shares were advancing while 1,692 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma and Nestle India were among the top laggards.

In addition, Brightcom Group, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company and Schaeffler India tanked up to 4.96 per cent.

On the flip side, Reliance Industries, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Tata Steel and Axis Bank were trading in the green.

Sensex had dropped 184 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 59,727 yesterday, while Nifty had declined 47 points, or 0.26 per cent to close at 17,660.

Nifty outlook

"While the 17,740 level discouraged buyers from unanticipated lines, the dips thereof did not stretch deep enough to see 17,500. Towards this end, both our entry setups failed to be triggered, resigning the trend into a narrow trading range. This is the challenge we will continue to face, as one may struggle to make a play inside the 17,500-17,740 band. Within this setup, we are inclined to pick up initial dips early today, with an eye on a break of 17740, but without expecting such a move to stretch beyond 17,830," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Also read: Infosys, TCS, HCL Tech, Wipro, TechM, LTIMindtree: Nifty IT index stocks that FPIs bought & sold in Q4