Equity markets staged volatility on Wednesday as investors turned cautious ahead of key global cues, particularly the US Federal Reserve’s rate decision, while pressure from a weak rupee, foreign fund outflows and a sharp decline in banking and PSU bank stocks dragged the indices lower.
With no fresh domestic triggers and profit-booking setting in after recent gains, overall sentiment remained subdued despite pockets of sectoral resilience.
BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty 50 traded flat after an intraday fall of over 600 points and 180 points, respectively. At 1.37 pm, Sensex traded at 84,663.54, and Nifty 50 traded at 25,848.85.
Both midcap and smallcap indices slipped by 0.4 per cent each. Sectoral trends were mixed, with the metal index leading the gainers, with an advance of over 1 per cent. Media, pharma, chemicals, auto and realty shares also posted modest gains, while banking, IT and telecom stocks slipped into the red.
Metal stocks lead gainers
Among the Nifty 50 pack, , , , and led the gainers, while , Eternal, , Apollo Hospitals and Nestle India depreciated the most.
Of the 3,115 stocks that were traded on the National Stock Exchange, nearly 1,621 stocks advanced, 1,400 declined and 84 remained unchanged. About 28 stocks scaled their 52-week highs, while 53 touched their 52-week lows. In addition, 72 stocks scaled the upper circuit, while 31 hit the lower circuit.
On the midcap index, Godfrey Phillips, AU Small Finance Bank, HDFC AMC, SRF and IRB gained 2-3 per cent, while Persistent Systems, Coromandel International, Paytm, BSE and Dixon Technologies declined 2-3 per cent.
In the smallcap basket, Navin Flourine, Brigade Enterprises, Ramco Cements, Jindal Saw and Manappuram Finance increased 2-4 per cent. Kaynes plunged 8 per cent, while Reliance Power, Data Patterns, MCX, Five Star Business and Inox Wind fell 2-4 per cent.