Stock market ends marginally lower in volatile session

MUMBAI: Indian stock market on Wednesday ended marginally lower in the volatile session amid mixed global cues. At close, the Sensex was down 116.14 points or 0.14% at 85,408.70, and the Nifty was down 35.05 points or 0.13% at 26,142.10.

Among the sectors, except media and metal, all other sectoral indices ended in the red. Information Technology, Oil & Gas, Pharma, PSU Bank were down 0.4% each.

Nifty IT index dropped 1% keeping the tech stocks as the top laggards. The development following amendments by the US Department of Homeland Security to the H-1B work visa selection process.

The market opened flat to marginally lower in early trade on Wednesday, ahead of the Christmas holiday, as continued Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI) selling capped bullish sentiment despite supportive domestic fundamentals.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities said, “The benchmark indices witnessed selling pressure at higher levels. The Nifty ended 35 points lower, while the Sensex was down by 116 points. Among sectors, buying was seen in selective financial stocks, while the Capital Market Index shed nearly 1 percent.

“We believe that the intraday market texture is non-directional; hence, level-based trading would be the ideal strategy for day traders,” he said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments Limited said, “Indian equities moved largely sideways in a holiday-shortened week, with trading volumes remaining subdued as the year draws to a close, a trend mirrored across broader Asian markets. The RBI’s recently announced liquidity initiatives, including OMOs and a USD/INR buy-sell swap, are expected to improve systemic liquidity and help stabilise currency volatility.”

“On the global front, stronger-than-expected US GDP data points to economic resilience, although rising unemployment has tempered optimism. Gold extended its rally on a softer dollar and elevated geopolitical risks, supported by increasing expectations of continued Fed policy easing.

Meanwhile, Brent crude hovered near multi-year lows, reinforcing a benign inflation outlook. Looking ahead, market activity is likely to remain muted, though investors will be closely tracking developments on the trade front,” Nair said. (ANI)