Stock markets end lower amid profit booking; Nifty slips below 22,700
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New Delhi, Oct 28: Indian equity markets ended in the red on Wednesday amid profit booking and selling pressure in information technology and oil and gas stocks. Investor sentiment remained cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision, while rising Brent crude prices, hovering around USD 115 per barrel, added to market concerns.
At the closing bell, the BSE Sensex declined 352.64 points, or 0.48 per cent, to settle at 73,246.03. The NSE Nifty fell 50.90 points, or 0.22 per cent, to close at 22,698.85, slipping below the 22,700 mark.
In contrast, the Nifty Midcap index gained 0.4 per cent, while the Smallcap index advanced 0.9 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, Information Technology and Oil and Gas stocks declined around 2 per cent each. Realty, Energy and FMCG stocks fell 0.5 per cent each. However, Auto, Consumer Durables, Media and Pharma indices gained around 1 per cent each.
On the Nifty, Infosys, Reliance Industries, ONGC, HCL Technologies and Bharti Airtel were among the major losers. Apollo Hospitals, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), Trent, SBI Life Insurance and InterGlobe Aviation emerged as the top gainers.
The Indian rupee weakened by 11 paise to close at 95.23 against the US dollar, compared with the previous close of 95.12.
Nearly 220 stocks touched their 52-week lows during the session. These included AWL Agri Business, Dalmia Bharat, Waaree Energies, Latent View Analytics, Nestle India, Britannia Industries, HDFC Life Insurance, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Godrej Consumer Products, HDFC Bank, Colgate-Palmolive India, SBI Cards and Payment Services, JK Lakshmi Cement, Afcons Infrastructure, The Ramco Cements, Finolex Industries, EID Parry, Bharat Dynamics, HUDCO and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, among others.
Among individual stocks, Gandhar Oil Refinery India plunged 17 per cent, while Piramal Pharma surged 16 per cent. Steel Authority of India declined 5 per cent, Larsen & Toubro gained 3.7 per cent and JSW Cement fell 1.4 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments Limited, said domestic equities remained volatile and ended lower as a fresh spike in crude oil prices and sharp selling in IT stocks weighed on investor sentiment.
He noted that oil prices rebounded amid renewed concerns over supply disruptions following Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, overshadowing ongoing diplomatic efforts. Markets were also closely monitoring the US midterm elections for greater clarity on the geopolitical landscape.
However, strong earnings from a leading capital goods company, resilience in banking, auto and pharma stocks, and value buying at lower levels helped benchmark indices recover a significant portion of their early losses.
