Investors in wait n watch mode ahead of US data

Mumbai: BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty spiralled lower for the fourth session on the trot on Wednesday as investors remained on edge ahead of US inflation data, which will give clues on the Federal Reserve's policy tightening trajectory. Unabated selling by foreign institutional investors and a jump in crude prices also weighed on sentiment, traders said.

Despite a firm start, the 30-share BSE Sensex failed to carry forward the momentum and ended at 54,088.39, lower by 276.46 points or 0.51 per cent. During the day, it tumbled 845.55 points to 53,519.30. Similarly, the NSE Nifty slipped 72.95 points or 0.45 per cent to settle at 16,167.10.

"Investors continue to remain wary despite global markets trading in green due to drop in domestic investors confidence and FII selling. The market turned volatile waiting for the release of April US inflation data, which is expected to cool down marginally. Inflation will continue to be elevated but the chance of major reactions is low because it has been factored in by the markets. The major determinant for market direction would be the pace of decline in inflation in response to the Fed measures," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services.

"On the global front, Asian markets were divided, while European markets were higher ahead of the release of US inflation data, which may provide a clue as to how aggressively the Federal Reserve would hike interest rates," said Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities. Continuing their selling spree, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth a net Rs 3,960.59 crore on Tuesday, according to stock exchange data. Larsen & Toubro (L&T) was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.34 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, PowerGrid, NTPC, Infosys, Maruti and ITC. In contrast, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, HDFC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank were among the gainers, jumping up to 1.92 per cent. In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge tumbled 2.23 per cent while the midcap index dipped 0.46 per cent.

Among BSE sectoral indices, capital goods tanked 1.63 per cent, followed by IT (1.50 per cent), industrials (1.39 per cent), telecom (1.22 per cent) and teck (1.07 per cent). Realty, bank and finance were the gainers.

BSE's mcap falls to `246.32 lakh cr

A four-day decline in stocks has wiped out over Rs13.33 lakh crore from the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms. In four days, the benchmark has lost 1,613.84 points or 2.89 per cent. Tracking the weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation (mcap) of BSE-listed firms tanked Rs13,32,898.99 crore in four sessions to stand at Rs2,46,31,990.38 crore.