Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty end marginally lower for 2nd day in row; private banks and auto stocks drag most

The Indian stock market on Wednesday closed negative for the second straight session with Sensex declining over 250 points and Nifty below 17850-level. The weakness in the benchmarks was mainly led by banking stocks, especially private lenders as well as by auto, pharma and financial stocks.

The BSE Sensex slipped 243 points or 0.43 per cent to 59,771, while Nifty declined around 60 points or 0.33 per cent to 17,830 levels at the market close. In broader markets, mid-cap index fell by 73 points or 0.23 per cent to 31,208, and Small-cap down 68 points or 0.62 per cent to 10,902.

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As many as 24 stocks closed in the green and 26 in the red on the Nifty50. Sun Pharma, on the back of lower-than-expected results slipped most by over 3 per cent, followed by IndusInd bank nearly 3 per cent and Bharti Airtel down over 2 per cent at the market close on Wednesday.

Other stocks that lead weakness in the market are, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, Britannia, Hero Moto, Titan, ITC, Divis Lab, Bajaj Auto, M&M, Eicher Motor and Tata Consumer each down between 1-2 per cent at the market close on Wednesday.

On the contrary, Larsen and Toubro gained most at the market close by around 4 per cent, followed by Grasim up almost 2.5 per cent. While other stocks such as Asian Paints, UPL, UltraTech Cement, and Hindalco each surged over 2 per cent at the market close today.

The majority of the sectoral indices declined, except for metal and realty stocks. Nifty Bank cracked most by over 1 per cent, followed by auto and pharma indices. Similarly, Nifty Realty outperformed the market by surging around 2 per cent at the market close on Wednesday.

Today marks the last day of Samvat 2077, as with Laxmi Pooja Muhrat on Thursday, the Samvat 2078 would begin. The market, in passing samvat, surged around 40 per cent, and it’s termed as one of the best samvat in years by the market analysts.