Stock-specific trading dominated the Indian stock market for a second straight session on Wednesday, as both benchmark indices traded within narrow ranges.
Investors remained cautious ahead of Thursday’s trading holiday for Maharashtra Day, leading to subdued market participation.
The Sensex opened with an 80-point gain at 80,371 and briefly touched an intraday high of 80,526 in the final 30 minutes of trade. However, the index soon reversed course and plunged to 79,879 — a sharp 647-point drop from its high. The Sensex finally closed at 80,024, down by 46 points.
The Nifty followed a similar pattern, trading within a tight 200-point range. It hit a high of 24,396 before sliding to 24,199. The index closed with a marginal two-point loss at 24,334.
“The Nifty continues to consolidate within a narrow range as traders preferred to remain on the sidelines ahead of the holiday,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were among the top losers on the Sensex, both falling over 5 per cent after their Q4 earnings failed to boost sentiment. Analysts cited a lacklustre growth outlook for Bajaj Finance.
Tata Motors and SBI also slipped around 3 per cent, while UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel, and Asian Paints saw notable losses.
On the positive side, Maruti Suzuki India rose more than 3 per cent, while Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, and Power Grid Corporation gained 1-2 per cent.
The broader market remained under pressure. The BSE MidCap index dropped 1 per cent, while the SmallCap index shed 2 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, BSE Power and Capital Goods declined by over 1 per cent. The Realty index bucked the trend, rising more than 1 per cent.
“The weakening US dollar and India’s economic resilience have made the country attractive to global investors,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services. “That said, after a rewarding rally, it’s wise to book partial profits and raise cash levels in portfolios,” he added.
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