India’s benchmark indices closed lower on Wednesday, weighed down by profit booking and broad declines across key sectors such as media, metals, PSU banks, real estate, and oil and gas.
The Sensex fell 398.13 points, or 0.49%, to 81,523.16, while the Nifty dropped 122.65 points, or 0.49%, ending at 24,918.45.
“The domestic market experienced a minor consolidation, mirroring trends in Asian peers due to falling commodity prices,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Nair attributed investor caution to concerns over a slowing Chinese economy.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research at Kotak Securities, said that profit booking at higher levels was the primary driver of today’s market performance.
Looking ahead, investors are expected to focus on upcoming retail and wholesale inflation data. Retail inflation in India, which surpassed 5% in June, fell sharply to 3.54% in July, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
Despite global inflation concerns, India has managed to control its inflation relatively well. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has raised the repo rate by a cumulative 250 basis points since May 2022 in response to inflationary pressures.
Investors are also expected to remain cautious ahead of the release of the US inflation report for August, which could influence the Federal Reserve’s next monetary policy decision.
(With ANI input)
