Sensex, Nifty Close Lower After Volatile Session
(RTTNews) - Indian stocks closed weak on Thursday, drifting down after two successive days of gains, as investors weighed the Federal Reserve's rate hike move, and reacted to comments from US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
The Fed, which raised interest rate by 25 basis points as expected, signaled one more hike to fight inflation.
Yellen's comments that the regulators are not looking to provide any "blanket" deposit insurance to stabilise the US banking system without working with lawmakers weighed on sentiment.
The benchmark BSE Sensex ended with a loss of 289.31 points or 0.5% at 57,925.28, despite seeing a spell in positive territory midway through the session, during which it climbed to a high of 58,396.17.
The broader Nifty 50 index of the National Stock Exchange, which surged to 17,205.40, ended down 75 points or 0.44% at 17,076.90.
Bank and technology stocks were the major losers. The Nifty PSU Bank index fell 1.74%.
Bank of Baroda ended 2.8% down. PNB, State Bank of India, Union Bank of India, Kotak Bank, IndusInd Bank, Canada Bank, IOB and Bank of India lost 1 to 2%.
Among technology stocks, HCL Technologies, Wipro, Infosys and MindTree ended notably lower.
Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Reliance Industries, Power Grid Corporation, UPL, Adani Enterprises and BPCL posted losses.
Hindalco, Maruti Suzuki, Nestle, ONGC, Tata Motors, ITC, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharmaceutical Industries gained 0.6 t 1.5%.
The market breadth was weak. On BSE, 2,055 stocks drifted lower, and 1,450 stocks posted gains, while 129 stocks ended flat.
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