The Indian equity benchmarks erased intraday gains in noon deals on the back of weakness in IT, banking and pharma shares. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening mirroring gains in other global markets after US Federal Reserve pledged to keep its benchmark overnight interest rate near zero. The Sensex fell as much as 569 points from the day’s highest level and Nifty 50 index briefly fell below its important psychological level of 14,700.
As of 1:21 pm, Sensex fell 229 points to 49,574 and Nifty 50 index declined 48 points to 14,673.
Infosys, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, TCS, Axis Bank and HCL Technologies were among the top drags on the Sensex.
Seven of 11 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading lower led by the Nifty IT index’s over 1.5 per cent decline. Pharma, PSU Banking, Bank and Private Bank indexes also fell over 0.5 per cent.
On the other hand, Auto shares were witnessing buying interest after Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced vehicle scrappage policy in the Lok Sabha. Metal, media and FMCG shares were also witnessing buying interest.
Mid- and small-cap shares were largely trading on a flat note as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.2 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index was little changed.
On the primary market front, Nazara Technologies IPO was going strong with subscription of over 7 times on the second day of the issue. On the other hand, Suryoday SmallFinance Bank witnessed tepid demand for the issue as it was subscribed 73 per cent.
ITC was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 3 per cent to Rs 217. Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Grasim Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Adani Ports, JSW Steel and HDFC also rose between 1-3 per cent.
On the flipside, Infosys, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Hero MotoCorp, HCL Technologies, Coal India, Cipla, Asian Paints, Divi’s Labs, Sun Pharma, Wipro, HDFC Life and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the losers.
The overall market breadth was negative as 1,660 shares were advancing while 1,163 were advancing on the BSE.