Sensex, Nifty decline as metal, financials shares retreat amid FII outflows


PTI | Mumbai | Updated: 16-01-2023 17:38 IST | Created: 16-01-2023 17:15 IST
Sensex, Nifty decline as metal, financials shares retreat amid FII outflows
Representative Image Image Credit: ANI
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Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty gave up early gains to close lower on Monday due to selling in metal, oil and gas and financial stocks as FII outflows dampened the investor sentiment.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 168.21 points or 0.28 per cent to settle at 60,092.97 as 15 of its constituents dropped. The barometer opened higher and touched a high of 60,586.77 in morning session. Later in the day, it fell 297.35 points or 0.49 per cent to 59,963.83.

The broader NSE Nifty dipped 61.75 points or 0.34 per cent to end at 17,894.85 as 32 of its stocks dropped.

''The sluggish mood continued as markets moved in a narrow range with a negative bias. Investors are taking a cautious stance as the global macroeconomic scenario remains bleak while FIIs continued to be sellers in domestic equities in the current month, thus dampening the market sentiment,'' said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities Ltd.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank fell the most by 2.26 per cent. NTPC declined 1.16 per cent and HDFC by 1.03 per cent. Among others, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra and ICICI Bank also declined.

HDFC Bank declined nearly 1 per cent even as the firm reported 19.9 per cent jump in its net profit for the third quarter ended December 2022.

Auto major Maruti Suzuki also dropped after the company announced an average 1.1 per cent hike in prices of its models from January 16.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, HCL Technologies, Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services and Power Grid were among the major winners.

Wipro ended over 1 per cent higher after announcing its December quarter earnings post trading hours on Friday. Wipro reported a better-than-expected 2.8 per cent rise in consolidated net profit for December 2022 quarter to Rs 3,053 crore and exuded optimism about ''strong'' bookings for the fourth quarter despite global headwinds.

Markets have been facing selling pressure on the rise, showing uncertainty among the participants despite favourable cues, Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking Ltd said.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge dipped 0.34 per cent and smallcap index declined 0.10 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, metal dipped 0.98 per cent, telecommunication fell 0.93 per cent, commodities declined 0.76 per cent, consumer discretionary (0.59 per cent), bankex (0.57 per cent) and financial services (0.55 per cent).

IT, utilities, power, teck and FMCG were the winners.

Meanwhile, the wholesale price-based inflation declined to a 22-month low of 4.95 per cent in December 2022, mainly due to fall in prices of food articles, especially vegetables, and oilseeds.

India's exports in December 2022 dipped by 12.2 per cent to USD 34.48 billion as against USD 39.27 billion in the same month last year, according to the data released by the commerce ministry on Monday.

Elsewhere in Asia, equity markets in Seoul, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended in the green, while Tokyo settled lower.

Equity exchanges in Europe were trading mixed in mid-session deals. Markets in the US had ended in the positive territory on Friday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.54 per cent to USD 84.82 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 2,422.39 crore on Friday, according to exchange data.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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