Equity markets decline after a three-day rise

Following three days of gains, benchmark stock indexes saw a decline on Wednesday due to profit-taking ahead of important macroeconomic data releases later in the day as well as the first quarter reports from TCS and HCL Technologies.

The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 223.94 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 65,393.90 as a result of fag-end selling. It reached a low of 65,320.25 and a high of 65,811.64 during the day.

The NSE Nifty finished at 19,384.30 after losing 55.10 points, or 0.28 percent.

Later in the day, figures on May’s industrial output and June’s inflation will be released.

The top laggards from the Sensex pack were Infosys, Tata Motors, UltraTech Cement, HDFC Bank, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Power Grid, Maruti, HDFC, and Tata Steel.

Gainers were Asian Paints, Nestle, Titan, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Nestle, and Reliance Industries.

According to exchange statistics, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) maintained their buying trend on Tuesday by purchasing shares of stock worth Rs 1,197.38 crore.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai finished down, while Seoul and Hong Kong closed in the black.

European stock markets were trading in the black. The US stock markets closed Tuesday in favourable territory.

The prospect of muted IT results, according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, “was a factor in the range-bound movement in the Indian indices.”

Benchmark Brent crude increased 0.23% to USD 79.58 per barrel.

The BSE benchmark rose 273.67 points or 0.42 percent on Tuesday to close at 65,617.84. To finish at 19,439.40, the Nifty gained 83.50 points, or 0.43 percent.