Sensex, Nifty Retreat on Profit Booking Ahead of US Fed

Mumbai, Sep 18 (PTI) Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty hit fresh lifetime intra-day highs before closing lower on Wednesday due to profit booking in IT shares ahead of the keenly-awaited US Fed's decision on interest rates.

The 30-share BSE Sensex dropped by 131.43 points or 0.16 per cent to settle at 82,948.23 in a volatile trade. The index opened lower but cut short losses in late morning trade, climbing 246.72 points or 0.29 per cent to scale a new all-time intra-day peak of 83,326.38.

The barometer re-entered the negative territory in afternoon trade as investors preferred to book profits at record levels. Sensex hit a low of 82,700.63 in pre-close session.

The NSE Nifty declined by 41 points or 0.16 per cent to close at 25,377.55. During the day, it advanced 63.65 points or 0.25 per cent to hit a fresh intra-day lifetime high of 25,482.20.

From the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies dropped over 3 per cent each. Infosys, Tech Mahindra, Sun Pharma and Tata Motors were the other major laggards.

Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Nestle, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India were among the biggest gainers.

"Nifty took a U-turn after hitting a new all-time high of 25,482 in the first half. Nifty erased all the gains in the second half and closed the session with the loss of 41 points or 0.16 per cent at 25,377. It failed to find a direction for the fourth consecutive session and remained within a narrow range.

"The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the US Federal Reserve will conclude its two-day meeting today. Fed chair Jerome Powell-led rate-setting panel is most likely to cut the rates by a quarter percentage points, however, talks of a 50 bps rate cut are also doing the rounds," said Devarsh Vakil – Deputy Head Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

The BSE midcap gauge declined 0.71 per cent and smallcap index dipped 0.52 per cent.

Among the indices, IT dropped 3 per cent, teck declined 2.43 per cent, oil & gas (1.12 per cent), consumer durables (0.88 per cent), metal (0.77 per cent) and commodities (0.66 per cent).

Financial Services and bankex were the gainers.

"Markets remained volatile for another session, ending flat in line with global trends ahead of the US Fed meeting," Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said.

As many as 2,455 stocks declined while 1,520 advanced and 95 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In Asian markets, Tokyo and Shanghai settled higher. Trading was closed in Hong Kong for a national holiday.

European markets were trading lower. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

"The Indian market experienced a minor profit-booking with underperformance by midcaps. Mixed signals from global markets emerged ahead of the anticipated FOMC rate cut decision which is seemingly priced in a 25-bps cut," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 482.69 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.63 per cent to USD 72.50 a barrel.

Extending its record-setting spree for the second day on Tuesday, the BSE benchmark Sensex climbed 90.88 points to settle at a lifetime high of 83,079.66 while the Nifty rose by 34.80 points to settle at an all-time peak of 25,418.55 on Tuesday.