Sensex, Nifty Snap Three-Day Losing Streak Led By Reliance, Bajaj Finance

The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their three-day winning streak led by gains in Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Asian Paints and Bajaj Finserv. For most part of the day, benchmarks traded in a rangebound manner with heightened volatility. The Sensex moved in a range of 867 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,306 and low of 17,043.65.

The Sensex advanced 187 points to close at 57,808.58 and Nifty 50 index rose 52 points to settle at 17,267.

"Nifty has declined sharply from its recent highs and has breached the Curial short term support levels of 17,170. The immediate downside target for the index is at 17,040/16,940 levels. Recently there is a Bearish candle pattern formed on daily charts. On the flip side 17,290-17,370 will act as strong resistance levels. It’s a stock specific market trade calls with strict stop loss," brokerage firm Nirmal Bang said in a note.

Ten of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher led by the Nifty Metal index's nearly 1 per cent gain. PSU bank, pharma, select auto and financial services shares also witnessed buying interest.

On the other hand, information technology, media, real estate and oil & gas shares faced selling pressure.

Mid- and small-cap shares underperformed their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.7 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 1.7 per cent.

Adani Wilmar jumped as much as 15 per cent from issue price to close at Rs 265 on the BSE after making a tepid stock market debut. The stock opened for trading at Rs 221 on the BSE, marking a decline of 4 per cent from the issue price of Rs 230.

Tata Steel was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 3 per cent to close at Rs 1,219. Cipla, Reliance Industries, Divi's Labs, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bharat Petroleum, Reliance Industries, Bharat Petroleum, Titan, JSW Steel and Asian Paints also rose between 1-2 per cent.

On the flipside, ONGC, Power Grid, SBI Life, Tata Consumer Products, Indian Oil, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra, Coal India, Kotak Mahindra Bank and HDFC fell between 0.7-2.8 per cent.

The overall market breadth was extremely negative as 2,237 shares ended lower while 1,096 ended higher on the BSE.