Sensex, Nifty Slip Into Red; RBI Policy Outcome In Focus

Indian equity benchmarks on Wednesday slipped into the red after opening higher ahead of Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy outcome.

Asia shares rose, encouraged by an overnight rally on Wall Street.

Trends on the Nifty Futures on Singapore Exchange (SGX Nifty) indicated a gap-up start for the domestic indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex slipped 60 points or 0.11 per cent to 55,047, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 18 points or 0.10 per cent down to trade at 16,397.

Mid- and small-cap shares were mixed as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.21 per cent and small-cap edged 0.03 per cent higher.

Eight of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty FMCG and Nifty Consumer Durables were underperforming the NSE platform by falling as much as 0.85 per cent and 0.62 per cent.

On the stock-specific front, Britannia was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 1.85 per cent to ₹ 3,321. Tata Consumer Products, Apollo Hospitals, Nestle India and Sun Pharma were also among the laggards.

The overall market breadth was slightly strong as 1,251 shares were advancing while 1,203 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, Asian Paints, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Hindustan Unilever, Reliance Industries, Infosys, L&T, Dr Reddy’s and UltraTech Cement.

Also, shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, plunged 1.70 per cent to hit an all-time intraday low of ₹ 740.

In contrast, Tata Steel, NTPC, Titan, Axis Bank, SBI and TCS were trading in the green.

Sensex had plunged 568 points or 1.02 per cent to close at 55,107 on Tuesday, while Nifty had moved 153 points or 0.92 per cent down to settle at 16,416.