Election-led jitters continue to daunt mkts

Mumbai: Snapping its three-day winning run, benchmark Sensex declined by 117 points in a volatile trade on Wednesday due to selling in index heavyweight shares like HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and TCS.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined by 117.58 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 72,987.03. During the day, it lost 281.95 points or 0.38 per cent to 72,822.66.

The broader Nifty dipped 17.30 points or 0.08 per cent to close at 22,200.55. The index oscillated between a high of 22,297.55 and a low of 22,151.75 in day trade.

“The market witnessed a sideways movement throughout the day as the emotions of investors were impacted by the election-led jitters. FIIs continued to remain in the selling mode; however, domestic investors were largely concentrated on stock-specific picks,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

“Following three days of rebound, the markets took a pause and closed nearly unchanged. Initially, there was an uptick, but pressure from certain heavyweights pushed the Nifty lower, leading to a range-bound movement until the end of the session,” adds Ajit Mishra, Sr V-P (research), Religare Broking Ltd.

“Nifty snapped a three-day winning streak on Wednesday, giving up early gains and ending marginally in the red. Global equities headed for a fresh record after a tech-led rally in the US, amid optimism that Wednesday’s key US inflation report won’t weaken the case for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts,” said Deepak Jasani, head (retail research), HDFC Securities.