Benchmark equity indices started the day on a bearish note on Wednesday, influenced by weak Asian markets and fresh foreign fund outflows.
However, a recovery was witnessed later in the day, primarily driven by buying in Reliance Industries. The 30-share BSE Sensex initially declined by 243.07 points to 70,896.83, while the Nifty slipped 73.25 points to 21,448.85. Subsequently, both indices rebounded, with the Sensex up 146.33 points at 71,286.23, and the Nifty trading higher by 58.25 points at 21,580.35.
Larsen & Toubro faced a 5 per cent decline in its stock after reporting earnings for the December quarter among the Sensex firms. Other laggards included Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Infosys, Axis Bank, and the State Bank of India. On the positive side, gainers included Tata Motors, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, and Bajaj Finserv.
Investors are closely monitoring two significant upcoming events—the interim budget and the US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision—for further market cues. Asian markets in Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong were trading lower, while the US markets ended mostly down on Tuesday.
The Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, V K Vijayakumar, highlighted the impact of the US Federal Reserve decision and the interim budget on near-term market movements. The global oil benchmark, Brent crude, saw a 0.45 per cent decline to USD 82.50 a barrel. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,970.52 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. On the previous trading day, the BSE benchmark fell by 801.67 points, or 1.11 per cent to settle at 71,139.90, while the Nifty declined 215.50 points, or 0.99 per cent to 21,522.10.
(With PTI inputs)
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