Market closes in red on weak global cues

Mumbai: Market benchmarks closed in the red for the first time this week on Wednesday amid a bearish trend overseas and volatility ahead of expiry of monthly derivatives contracts. A depreciating rupee and mixed corporate results also took a toll on sentiment, traders said. Snapping its two-session rising streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 206.93 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 61,143.33. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 57.45 points or 0.31 per cent to 18,210.95.

"Echoing weak global sentiments, domestic indices slipped into negative terrain in today's choppy trade. Bleeding financial stocks dragged the market despite improvements in asset quality and favourable results. Stagflation worries and flare-up in US-China tensions forced global investors to trade cautiously ahead of the announcement of another batch of Q2 corporate earnings," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services. Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking, adds: "Markets are closely watching earnings for cues and we'll see the reaction to the numbers of select index majors in early trade on Thursday. Besides, volatility is expected to remain high due to the scheduled monthly derivatives expiry."

Axis Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tanking 6.52 per cent, despite reporting an over 86 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 3,133.32 crore for the September quarter. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, HUL, Tata Steel and NTPC were among the other laggards. On the other hand, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Infosys, SBI, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel and HCL Tech were among the gainers, climbing up to 4.42 per cent.Market benchmarks closed in the red for the first time this week on Wednesday amid a bearish trend overseas and volatility ahead of expiry of monthly derivatives contracts. A depreciating rupee and mixed corporate results also took a toll on sentiment, traders said. Snapping its two-session rising streak, the 30-share BSE Sensex closed 206.93 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 61,143.33. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty slipped 57.45 points or 0.31 per cent to 18,210.95.

"Echoing weak global sentiments, domestic indices slipped into negative terrain in today's choppy trade. Bleeding financial stocks dragged the market despite improvements in asset quality and favourable results. Stagflation worries and flare-up in US-China tensions forced global investors to trade cautiously ahead of the announcement of another batch of Q2 corporate earnings," said Vinod Nair, head (research) at Geojit Financial Services. Ajit Mishra, V-P (research), Religare Broking, adds: "Markets are closely watching earnings for cues and we'll see the reaction to the numbers of select index majors in early trade on Thursday. Besides, volatility is expected to remain high due to the scheduled monthly derivatives expiry."

Axis Bank was the top loser in the Sensex pack, tanking 6.52 per cent, despite reporting an over 86 per cent jump in standalone net profit at Rs 3,133.32 crore for the September quarter. Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, HUL, Tata Steel and NTPC were among the other laggards. On the other hand, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Infosys, SBI, UltraTech Cement, Bharti Airtel and HCL Tech were among the gainers, climbing up to 4.42 per cent.