Sensex Ends Tad Lower at 55,944.21, But Nifty Scales Up at 16,634.65

The Sensex closed modestly lower while the Nifty inched up to a fresh closing high on Wednesday as bulls took a breather amid a subdued trend overseas. Banking and finance stocks succumbed to profit-booking after the sharp-up move in the past few sessions, while IT and FMCG counters bucked the trend.

After touching its all-time high of 56,198.13 in early trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 14.77 points or 0.03 per cent lower at 55,944.21. The broader NSE Nifty, however, ended 10.05 points or 0.06 per cent higher at its new closing record of 16,634.65. It touched an all-time high of 16,712.45 during the day.

TCS was the top gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 1.31 per cent, followed by Infosys, Reliance Industries, Nestle India, ITC, and HUL. On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, Titan, Maruti, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Axis Bank, and UltraTech Cement were among the laggards, skidding as much as 3.51 per cent. The market breadth was negative, with 22 of the 30 Sensex constituents ending in the red, while the remaining eight mustered gains.

"Market opened positively but main indices closed on a flattish note due to muted performance by large caps. The broad market was more positive, as midcaps bounced after the correction mode during the month, which lifted the morale of investors.

"The global market traded positive on COVID vaccine approval and in anticipation of a dovish comment by the Fed chair in the upcoming meeting (Jackson Hole)," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Domestic equities traded range-bound ahead of F&O expiry, said Binod Modi, Head - Strategy at Reliance Securities.

"However, small cap stocks were in focus today with strong buying seen in several quality names. Additionally, investors continued to remain upbeat on IT stocks in the backdrop of sustained earnings visibility," he added.

Sector-wise, BSE oil and gas, power, energy, IT and industrials indices climbed up to 1.28 per cent, while consumer durables, telecom, realty, bankex, finance, and healthcare closed lower. Broader BSE midcap and small cap indices outperformed the benchmarks, spurting up to 0.68 per cent.

Global markets were largely subdued ahead of US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech at the annual Jackson Hole event later this week. Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Hong Kong and Tokyo ended in the red, while Shanghai and Seoul were positive. Equities in Europe were also trading on a mixed note in afternoon trade.

Meanwhile, the international oil benchmark Brent crude slipped 0.36 per cent to USD 70.16 per barrel. The rupee declined by 5 paise to close at 74.24 against the US currency due to a stronger dollar in the overseas markets.

Foreign institutional investors were net sellers in the capital market on Tuesday as they offloaded shares worth Rs 1,644.91 crore, as per exchange data.