Markets remain bearish for 2nd day in row, IT & FMCG major drag

Mumbai: The Sensex and Nifty nursed losses for the second straight session on Wednesday, pressured by steep declines in IT, FMCG and pharma counters amid a mixed trend overseas.

High crude oil prices, lacklustre macroeconomic data and foreign fund outflows also played spoilsport.

The 30-share BSE Sensex declined 185.24 points or 0.33 per cent to settle at 55,381.17 in a see-saw session. On similar lines, the broader NSE Nifty dipped 61.80 points or 0.37 per cent to finish at 16,522.75.

Nestle India was the top loser among the Sensex components, skidding 2.99 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, HCL Tech, HUL, PowerGrid and UltraTech Cement.

In contrast, M&M topped the winners' chart, climbing 1.32 per cent, after the homegrown auto major posted a multi-fold jump in total sales in May.

HDFC rose 0.94 per cent after the mortgage lender announced a 5 basis points (bps) increase in its benchmark lending rate.

Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, ITC and NTPC were among the other gainers.

The market breadth was negative, with 20 of the 30 Sensex stocks closing in the red.

The Indian economy grew at its slowest pace in a year during January-March at 4.1 per cent, pulling down the GDP growth in the full fiscal 2021-22 to 8.7 per cent, as per official data released post market hours on Tuesday.

The rupee recovered from its record low to close 21 paise higher at 77.50 against the

US dollar.