Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end in red after RBI cuts FY23 GDP growth estimates, expresses concern over inflation

Closing Bell: Domestic stock markets ended in red on Wednesday after trading in a narrow range for the day. Frontline indices initially went up on news of 35 bps hike in repo rate only to shed gains later on the inflation and growth outlook. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das in his monetary policy speech highlighted that inflation remains elevated, much higher than Central Bank's comfort level of 6 per cent while lowering the GDP growth estimates for FY23 to 6.8 per cent from 7 per cent.

S&P BSE Sensex ended at 62,410.68, down 215.68 points or 0.34 per cent while NSE Nifty closed at 18,560.50, down by 82 points or 0.44 per cent.

Nifty has given a second consecutive negative closing while Sensex has closed in red on all three occasions this week.

In the 50-stock Nifty50, 11 stocks gained while 39 declined. The top gainers were BPCL, Hindustan Unilever, Asian Paints, Larsen and Toubro and Axis Bank while the top losers were SBI Life, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors.

Barring Nifty PSU Bank (+0.26 per cent) and Nifty FMCG (+0.96 per cent), all Nifty sectoral indices closed in the red. The worst performers were Nifty Media (-1.45 per cent), Nifty Metal (-0.88 per cent) and Nifty Consumer Durables (-1.06 per cent).

There was stock specific action in broader markets with Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Nifty Small Cap 100 ending with losses of 0.58 and 0.59 per cent respectively. The top gainers among mid cap stocks were Hindustan Petroleum, AU Small Finance Bank and Linde India while top losers were Oberoi Realty, Jubilant Foodworks and Godrej Properties. In the small cap pack the top gainers were NLC India, MRPL and Aegis Logistics while top losers were Sobha, Sterlite Technologies and Delta Corp.

Out of 3,641 stocks that traded on BSE today, advances were 1,522 while declines were 1,979 while 140 stocks remained unchanged. Number of stock that hit 52-week highs were 152 while 21 stocks hit their 52-week lows. 

The biggest laggards in terms of index contribution were Reliance Industries, Infosys, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank. HUL and L&T were top contributors.

Singapore-based SGX Nifty, an early indicator of movement in Nifty50 was trading at 18,674.5, down 78. points or 0.42 per cent while Dow 30 Futures were trading at 33,543.30, up 53 points or  0.16 per cent.