Stock market benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty made a positive start on Thursday, but soon slipped into negative territory due to selling pressure in services and consumer durables stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 245.11 points or 0.29 per cent to 83,979.36 in early trade. At the same time, NSE Nifty rose by 65.95 points or 0.25 percent to reach 25,885.30.
However, both the benchmark indices soon gave up early gains, with Sensex falling 131.07 points to 83,603.18 and Nifty falling 30.70 points to 25,788.65. In mid-session trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 869.96 points or 1.03 per cent to 82,864.29.
The broader NSE Nifty fell 251.6 points, or 0.97 per cent, to 25,567.75.
Condition of Sensex companies
Among the companies included in the Sensex list, Trent, Mahindra & Mahindra, Indigo, UltraTech Cement, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Reliance Industries, Bharat Electronics Limited, PowerGrid, Adani Ports, ITC, Asian Paints, Axis Bank and Bharti Airtel were among the major laggards. On the other hand, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services were the only profit making companies.
Among sectoral indices, real estate declined the most at 1.81 per cent, followed by power sector at 1.30 per cent. Consumer discretionary sector declined by 1.14 per cent, automobile sector by 1.12 per cent, capital goods by 1.10 per cent and utility sector by 1.09 per cent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Ltd, said, “It seems that there will be widespread selling in the near future as the market has performed well since the beginning of the month, which has led to profit booking. The possibility of low participation of foreign investment investors (FIIs) due to Lunar New Year holidays in Asian markets is also playing an important role in this.”
Additionally, transactions remain closed on Thursday as it is a banking holiday. He further said that although these factors do not usually affect the direction of the market, they can affect the functioning, liquidity and volume of trading.
Growth seen in Asian markets
In Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi index rose 3 percent, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 index gained nearly 1 percent. Markets in Hong Kong and mainland China were closed for the Lunar New Year holidays. The US stock market closed with a rise in overnight trading on Wednesday.
The price of Brent crude increased to US $ 70.61 per barrel.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.37 percent to US$70.61 per barrel. According to exchange data, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,154.34 crore on Wednesday, while domestic institutional investors also bought shares worth Rs 440.34 crore. On Wednesday, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 283.29 points higher at 83,734.25, while the broader NSE Nifty closed 93.95 points higher at 25,819.35.