Stock markets close lower for 2nd day; Sensex down 239 pts as ITC tanks over 3 pc

Mumbai: Stock markets declined for the second straight day on Wednesday with benchmark Sensex falling by 239 points dragged by losses in FMCG major ITC. The 30-share BSE barometer declined 239.31 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 81,312.32. During the day, it lost 307.61 points or 0.37 per cent to 81,244.02. The 50-issue NSE Nifty dropped 73.75 points or 0.30 per cent to close at 24,752.45.

Analysts said the key indices remained largely range-bound ahead of the monthly expiry on Thursday and the release of GDP and industrial production data. FMCG, auto, and pharma shares declined while banking, mainly PSUs, media and energy shares advanced. Among Sensex stocks, ITC fell over 3 per cent after British multinational BAT trimmed its ownership in the conglomerate by divesting a 2.5 per cent stake for Rs 12,927 crore (USD 1.51 billion) through a block deal. IndusInd Bank, Nestle, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma and Tech Mahindra were also among the laggards. Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Adani Ports and HCL Tech were among the gainers. "The domestic indices remained rangebound with a negative bias, primarily due to the lack of support from FIIs and prevailing premium valuations. A lingering concern over India-US trade relations following the end of the 90-day pause period continues to pose an external risk," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited, said.

The BSE smallcap gauge climbed 0.50 per cent while midcap index dipped 0.22 per cent. Among sectoral indices, FMCG dropped the most by 1.33 per cent, followed by metal (0.69 per cent), auto (0.67 per cent), consumer durables (0.58 per cent), commodities (0.52 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.51 per cent). Financial Services, industrials, telecommunication, bankex, capital goods, services and teck were the gainers. "Markets were extremely range-bound with a negative bias as weak European cues and domestic monthly F&O expiry on Thursday prompted investors to trim their holdings. The minutes of the US FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) meeting held in early May will provide some hint to the markets on the direction of the interest rates going ahead," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said. Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd said that despite stable global cues and favourable domestic factors, the market is being weighed down by inconsistent FII inflows, which is reflected in the recent increase in volatility. In Asian markets, South Korea's Kospi settled in the positive territory while Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ended lower.

Markets in Europe were trading lower. US markets ended sharply higher on Tuesday. Nasdaq Composite jumped 2.47 per cent, S&P 500 surged 2.05 per cent and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.78 per cent. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 348.45 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data. Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.69 per cent to USD 64.57 a barrel. On Tuesday, the BSE Sensex dropped 624.82 points or 0.76 per cent to settle at 81,551.63. The Nifty declined 174.95 points or 0.70 per cent to 24,826.20.