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Benchmark indices closed in the red on Wednesday amid profit booking.
Market, after opening on a positive note amid mixed global cues, soon slipped into the red with most counters turning volatile ahead of the expiry of F&O monthly contracts on Thursday on the NSE.
The BSE Sensex closed at 52,306.08, down 282.63 points or 0.54 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 52,912.35 and a low of 52,264.12. The Nifty 50 closed near the day’s low of 15,673.95 at 15,686.95, down 85.80 points or 0.54 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 15,862.95.
Breadth favours decliners
The breadth of the market turned in favour of the decliners with 1,702 stocks declining, 1,533 advancing and 141 remaining unchanged on the BSE. As many as 467 securities hit the upper circuit and 224 the lower circuit; 437 hit their 52-week high while 19 touched a 52-week low.
Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities said, “Domestic equities witnessed high volatility and contracted sharply from day’s high. Baring auto and PSU banks, profit booking was visible across the counters. Announcement of price hikes and improved prospects of volume recovery continued to generate interest among investors for automobile companies.”
Maruti, Titan, Bajaj Finserv, M&M and ONGC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Adani Ports, Wipro, Divi’s Labs, Shree Cements and JSW Steel were the top laggards.
IT, Metals drag, Auto in focus
On the sectoral front, only auto stocks managed to extend gains. All indices except Nifty Auto closed in the red. Meanwhile, metals and IT dragged.
Nifty Auto ended 0.46 per cent higher. Nifty Metal recorded the highest losses and was down 1.13 per cent. Nifty IT was down 0.93 per cent. Pharma stocks also faced pressure with Nifty Pharma ending 0.55 per cent lower.
Broader indices
All broader indices also closed in the red.
Nifty Midcap 50 was down 0.13 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was down 0.44 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was down 0.26 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was down 0.43 per cent. Notably, the volatility index rose 4.25 per cent to 15.37.
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