Sensex, Nifty End Lower in Volatile Trade: IT Stocks Drag

Mumbai, Feb 19 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty ended marginally lower in a volatile trade on Wednesday dragged by blue-chip IT stocks.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex dipped 28.21 points or 0.04 per cent to settle at 75,939.18. Intra-day, it hit a high of 76,338.58 and a low of 75,581.38, gyrating 757.2 points.

The NSE Nifty skidded 12.40 points or 0.05 per cent to 22,932.90.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys fell over 2 per cent each. Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharma, Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, HCL Tech, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tech Mahindra were also among the laggards.

Among the gainers, Zomato jumped nearly 5 per cent. Larsen & Toubro, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank were also among the gainers.

"The national benchmarks exhibited a range-bound performance with a slight downward bias, though selective buying in the broader market was evident, driven by bargain hunting in beaten-down stocks.

"A reversal in FII flows also influenced market dynamics; however, the durability of this trend remains uncertain. Despite concerns over potential US tariff impositions and delays in anticipated interest rate cuts, market sentiment remains optimistic about a rebound in India's Q3 GDP growth," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai settled in the positive territory while Tokyo and Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were trading mostly lower.

US markets ended in positive territory on Tuesday.

"While markets ended flat with a slightly negative bias due to selling in IT stocks, broader markets witnessed a lot of optimism as mid and smallcap stocks rallied after the recent sell-off.

"Despite the uncertainty over rising FII selling, falling rupee, and the ongoing tariff war, the recently beaten sectoral stocks from banking, automobile, telecom, metals attracted significant buying interest," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Tuesday after unabated selling. They bought equities worth Rs 4,786.56 crore, according to exchange data.

The BSE smallcap gauge jumped 2.41 per cent and midcap index climbed 1.30 per cent.

"Markets remained volatile and ended nearly unchanged, extending the prevailing consolidation phase. The ongoing indecisiveness in the index is keeping participants on edge," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.65 per cent to USD 76.33 a barrel.

After a day's breather, the Sensex ended 29.47 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 75,967.39 on Tuesday. The Nifty dipped 14.20 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 22,945.30.