Benchmark indices were trading in the red during the afternoon on Thursday. 

Market opened on a weak note amid negative global cues as global markets traded lower amid fears of more than expected US Fed tightening measures. Indices extended losses in the first half and were trading lower during the afternoon, dragged by IT, metals and consumer durables. 

The BSE Sensex was trading at 59,421.23, down 189.18 points or 0.32 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 59,504.92 and a low of 59,120.06. The Nifty 50 was trading at 17,755.95, down 51.70 points or 0.29 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 17,787.50 and a low of 17,672.30.

Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Eicher Motor, Hindustan Unilever and Coal India were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Titan, HDFC, Powergrid, Wipro and Hindalco were the top losers.

Investors are  awaiting the outcome of the RBI policy meet. 

Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services said, “Markets, globally, have again turned choppy with sharp rise in the volatility indexes. Recent market weakness is partly due to the increasingly  hawkish commentary from the Fed.”

“Market now expects  the Fed to hike rate by 50 bp in its next meeting and around 200 bp hike for 2022. This along with the balance sheet reduction of the Fed will be a headwind for equity markets globally. Whether the markets can remain resilient even amidst this strong headwind depends on the Fed’s ability to manage a ‘soft landing’ of the US economy preventing it from slipping into recession,” Dr Vijayakumar said.

IT, Metals, Consumer Durables under pressure

On the sectoral front, while banks, realty, pharma and FMCG gained, IT, metals and consumer durables dragged.

Nifty Consumer Durables was down 0.85 per cent while Nifty Metal was own 0.81 per cent. Nifty IT was down 0.65 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty Realty and Nifty PSU Bank were up over 1 per cent each. Nifty Bank was up 0.58 per cent while Nifty Private Bank was up 0.61 per cent. Nifty FMCG was up 0.59 per cent. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were up 0.53 per cent and 0.61 per cent, respectively. 

Broader indices 

Broader market also faced pressure.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.03 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.12 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.35 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.45 per cent.

The volatility index softened 1.65 per cent to 18.71.

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