Investors offload in banking, metal stocks

Mumbai : Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty cut short their four-day gaining streak and closed lower by half a per cent on Wednesday due to profit-taking in banking, energy and metal stocks amid weak trends in global markets. Snapping its four-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 346.89 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 62,622.24. During the day, it tumbled 568.11 points or 0.90 per cent to 62,401.02. The NSE Nifty declined 99.45 points or 0.53 per cent to end at 18,534.40. In the four-day rally to Tuesday, Sensex advanced by 1,195 points or 2 per cent, while Nifty rose by 348 points or 2.26 per cent.

“Markets witnessed profit-taking and shed over half a per cent, tracking mixed cues. After the initial downtick, the Nifty index traded with a negative bias for most of the session however a marginal rebound in the final hours trimmed some losses,” said Ajit Mishra, srV-P (technical research), Religare Broking Ltd. The broader market however gained, with the BSE smallcap gauge jumping 0.68 per cent and midcap index climbing 0.54 per cent. Among the indices, energy fell 1.20 per cent, metal (1.16 per cent), oil & gas (1.04 per cent), utilities (1 per cent) and financial services (0.68 per cent). Telecommunication jumped 2.15 per cent, realty (0.73 per cent), consumer durables (0.73 per cent), teck (0.72 per cent), healthcare (0.64 per cent) and industrials (0.53 per cent).