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The Sensex and Nifty ended lower after hitting record highs earlier in the day as the 25 bps repo rate cut announced by the RBI in its bi-monthly monetary policy statement failed to enthuse investor sentiment.
The Sensex ended down by 98.43 points or 0.3 per cent at 32,476.74 and the 50-share NSE index Nifty closed lower by 33.15 points or 0.33 per cent at 10,081.50.
Among BSE sectoral indices, IT index fell the most by 0.88 per cent, followed by capital goods 0.83 per cent, FMCG 0.76 per cent and TECk 0.75 per cent. On the other hand, consumer durables index was up 1.12 per cent and power 0.11 per cent.
Top five Sensex gainers were NTPC (+4.06%), Hero MotoCorp (+2.12%), Adani Ports (+2.08%), Lupin (+1.6%) and Reliance (+1.59%), while the major losers were Sun Pharma (-1.95%), Dr Reddy's (-1.93%), Tata Motors (-1.66%), Kotak Bank (-1.39%) and TCS (-1.3%).
The BSE Bankex was down by about 47 points at 28,356.31 points. It had closed yesterday at 28,403 points.
Most top banking stocks ended marginally lower. State Bank of India stock was at 307.65 down 0.37 per cent, while ICICI Bank was at Rs 301.60, down 0.2 per cent and HDFC Bank was at Rs 1,794.65, down 0.04 per cent.
Markets are at higher levels and valuations seem a little steep index-wise, so a little profit-booking is likely in mid-cap stocks, said Siddharth Sedani, head and vice president, equity advisory at Anand Rathi.
“A little bit of consolidation can be seen in the markets once the policy meet is done,” he added.
Early trade
The 30-share BSE index Sensex spurted 111.31 points or 0.34 per cent to hit a new peak of 32,686.48, breaking its previous intra-day record of 32,672.66 hit on July 27. The gauge had gained 265.29 points in the past two sessions.
The 50-share NSE index Nifty too advanced 23.20 points or 0.22 per cent to scale a life-time high of 10.137.85. The barometer had touched an intra-day high of 10,128.60 yesterday.
Traders said the widening of bets by investors and funds on expectations that the Reserve Bank might lower key interest rates at its bi-monthly monetary policy review, to be released later in the day, boosted the domestic sentiment.
Also, a slew of strong corporate earnings provided more cheer.
Asian shares
Asian technology stocks hit 17-year peaks on Wednesday as blockbuster earnings from Apple rippled out to component makers globally, helping offset a pullback in the energy sector.
The MSCI tech index for Asia climbed 0.8 per cent to ground not trod since early 2000, bringing its gains for the year to a heady 40 per cent.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average racked up a fifth straight record high on Tuesday and neared the 22,000 mark, powered by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and other banks.
Apple rose 0.89 per cent as Wall Street awaited the largest publicly listed company's quarterly report after the bell, with the iPhone maker expected by analysts to post a 6-percent rise in revenue.
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