Benchmark equity indices fell in early trade on Wednesday, owing to a sluggish trend in Asian markets and investors’ cautious posture ahead of the US Fed interest rate announcement.
In addition, retail inflation rose to a three-month high of 5.55 percent in November, adding to the stocks’ negative trend.
The Sensex dropped 130.21 points to 69,420.82. The Nifty lost 29.05 points to 20,877.35.
Tata Consultancy Services, Axis Bank, Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, and HDFC Bank were the major laggards among Sensex companies.
Among the top gainers were NTPC, Power Grid, UltraTech Cement, and Larsen & Toubro.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower, while Tokyo was trading higher.
On Tuesday, the US markets finished in green.
Brent crude lost 0.20 percent to USD 73.09 a barrel.
According to exchange data, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) acquired securities worth Rs 76.86 crore on Tuesday.
Retail inflation climbed to a three-month high of 5.55 percent in November, bucking a falling trend, on firming food prices, notably vegetables and cereals, while it remains within the RBI’s comfort zone of less than 6 percent.
On Tuesday, following a two-day surge, the BSE benchmark slipped 377.50 points or 0.54 percent to 69,551.03. The Nifty fell 90.70 points or 0.43 percent to 20,906.40.
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