Mkts hovering in consolidation phase

Mumbai : Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for a third day on Wednesday dragged by selling in IT and select banking shares amid weak global trends and FII outflows.

The 30-share BSE Sensex closed lower by 159.21 points or 0.27 per cent at 59,567.80 as 21 of its components ended in the red. During the day, the index fell 274.29 points or 0.45 per cent to 59,452.72.The broader Nifty dipped 41.40 points or 0.23 per cent to settle at 17,618.75 with 31 of its shares closing with losses. Analysts said stock markets are in a consolidation phase after a record nine-day winning run to April 13 which saw benchmark Nifty soaring by 5.7 per cent and Sensex by 4.73 per cent.

Sensex and Nifty have corrected by around 1.4 per cent in the three straight sessions of losses to Wednesday following poor commentary by major IT companies.

"Tepid cues from the global peers are also creating havoc as the market prices in the possibility of another rate hike by the Fed," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services. Ajit Mishra, V-P (technical research), Religare Broking Ltd, said that "markets settled marginally lower in a dull trading session, in continuation to the prevailing consolidation phase."

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) offloaded equities worth Rs810.60 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge gained 0.12 per cent, while midcap index fell marginally by 0.18 per cent.