Sensex ends 400 points lower, Nifty at 15,208; Nestle, Bajaj twins, Asian Paints, Maruti top losers

Tracking losses in index majors, share market indices ended on a bearish note on Wednesday, amid mixed global equities. Falling for the second straight session, BSE 30-share Sensex ended 400 points lower at 51,703 and NSE Nifty 50 fell by 104 points at 15,208.

Traders said indices registered profit booking after hitting record-high levels in the previous session. Yesterday, Sensex ended 49 points lower at 52,104 and Nifty fell 1.25 points to 15,313. On Tuesday, Sensex hit a record high of 52,516 and Nifty hit a lifetime high of 15,431.

Nestle, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC and Dr Reddy's were among the top losers today. On the other hand, SBI, Power Grid, RIL, NTPC, M&M, Airtel and Axis Bank were among the top gainers.

Top losers today: Nestle, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bajaj Finserv fall up to 3%

Sectorally, auto, metal, media and PSU Bank index were in buying demand, while FMCG, IT, realty private banking and pharma sectors witnessed selling.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said,"The Indian market opened low replicating the weak global trend due to rising bond yield and inflation. PSU Banks which were in the limelight on reports of privatisation continued to ride its uptrend. Mid and small-cap stocks remained firm and outperformed the benchmark indices."

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said,"While Indices corrected today on the back of profit-taking in Blue Chips, the action shifted to Mid & Small Caps as several stocks across sectors were seen buzzing around on the back of news flow and investor appetite."

Overseas, equities turned red on rising bond yield concerns. Asian stocks were trading lower on Wednesday following overnight cues from US and European markets. Markets in China remain closed on Wednesday for the Lunar New Year holidays. Meanwhile, Japan's exports rose 6.4% in January as compared with a year earlier.

In US, the Dow hit an all-time high on Tuesday, while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq retreated slightly from record levels.

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said," An important development yesterday was the US 10-year bond yield touching 1.29%, the highest level since Feb 2020. The bond market is factoring in a rise in inflation in the coming months. The rise in yield reflects the market's concern that President Biden's proposed $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus package on top of the massive monetary stimulus will lead to a spike in inflation. If the yields continue to rise, it can be negative for equity markets. It may be too early to take an investment call based on this. But, this space has to be watched. The texture of the market continues to be 'Buy on Dips' since FPI inflows continue to be strong."

Keshav Lahoti-Associate Equity Analyst, Angel Broking said,"Indian shares opened slightly lower on the back of weak Asian cues as investors eyed the minutes from the Federal Reserve's January policy meeting. Global cues were negative: Dow Futures and Nasdaq Futures were flat, whereas FTSE was down by 0.4%. Market fundamentals and sentiments are strong to take the market to new highs. Continuous FII Inflow is very important for the rally in the market."

Expressing views on Nifty's closing, Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research Limited said, "The market failed to show resilience to stay above the Nifty 50 Index level of 15250 on a sustained basis. While it is subject to further price action evolution, the technical factors are shifted today to support a sideways correction in the future. The corrective wave down should find support around 15100-15150. As such, the traders are advised to refrain from building a new buying position until we witness a breakout of 15370."  

Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said," The Nifty index settled around the day's low to close at 15,209 levels. We're seeing healthy corrections however there's no shortage of trading opportunities. We thus reiterate our view to focus more on stock selection and using dips to add quality stocks. On the benchmark front, Nifty has next support at 15,050 levels."

On the currency front, the Indian rupee ended 5 paise lower at 72.74 per US dollar, tracking losses in the domestic equity markets and strengthening American currency.

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