Sensex, Nifty close marginally down in volatile trade

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Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower in highly volatile trade on March 28 as losses in IT and auto stocks were largely offset by gains in banking and oil shares amid mixed global trends.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended 40.14 points or 0.07% lower at 57,613.72 as 19 of its stocks declined and 11 advanced. The index opened higher and further climbed 295.59 points or 0.51% to touch a high of 57,949.45. It, however, failed to hold onto the gains and fell to a low of 57,494.91 later.

The broader NSE Nifty closed lower by 34 points or 0.20% to finish at 16,951.70 after gyrating between 17,061.75 and 16,913.75.

As many as 32 Nifty stocks declined, 17 advanced and one closed unchanged. Adani Entertainment, Adani Ports, Tech Mahindra, HeroMotoCorp and Tata Motors were among major Nifty losers.

Among the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Finance, Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and UltraTech Cement were the biggest laggards.

IndusInd Bank, Power Grid, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, NTPC, Reliance Industries, HDFC and Tata Steel were the prominent winners.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, “Indian markets continued to stay in the grip of bears as investors remained cautious in expectation of further tightening from the RBI.”

Nifty small and midcap stocks continued to underperform due to a fall in investors’ risk appetite and FY23 tax harvesting, Mr. Nair added.

“Nifty witnessed yet another day of rangebound price action. It consolidated between 16,900 – 17,100 for the third consecutive day,” Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Japan and Hong Kong ended in the green, while Shanghai closed marginally lower.

European equities were trading in positive territory during the afternoon trade. The U.S. markets ended on a mixed note on Monday.

The 30-share BSE benchmark climbed 126.76 points or 0.22% to finish at 57,653.86 on Monday. The Nifty advanced 40.65 points or 0.24% to end at 16,985.70.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.50% to $78.51 per barrel.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth ₹890.64 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.