New Delhi: Indian equity benchmarks on Monday extended their fall for the second straight session in volatile trade. Investors turned cautious ahead of the interest rate decisions by central banks.
Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary policy committee began its three-day deliberation amid expectations of another hike in benchmark interest rates to contain inflation which continues to stay above the central bank’s upper tolerance level.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 94 points or 0.17 per cent to close at 55,675 today, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 15 points or 0.09 per cent down to settle at 16,570.
Mid- and small-cap shares finished on a weak note as Nifty Midcap 100 edged 0.11 per cent lower and small-cap slipped 1.02 per cent higher.
Nine out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — settled in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Consumer Durables and Nifty underperformed the platform by falling as much as 0.58 per cent and 0.28 per cent, respectively.
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On the stock-specific front, Shree Cement was the top Nifty loser as the stock cracked 3.14 per cent to ₹ 19,990.45. BPCL, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement and Hero MotoCorp were also among the laggards.
The overall market breadth stood negative as 1,431 shares advanced while 1,966 declined on BSE.
On the 30-share BSE index, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle India, L&T, Hindustan Unilever, Axis Bank, Sun Pharma, Dr Reddy’s, Wipro, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries were among the top losers.
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Also, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), the country’s biggest insurer and largest domestic financial investor, plunged 2.86 per cent to settle at ₹ 777.40. The stock touched an all-time intraday low of ₹ 775.40.
In contrast, Tata Steel, IndusInd Bank, M&M, ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, NTPC and Maruti finished in the green.
