Stocks started the day in the red despite a supportive Asian market setup. The Sensex slipped 200 points to 24,636 while the Nifty breached the 7,500 mark.
Banks, capital goods and technology stocks dragged the benchmark indices while the consumer durable and metal sectors showed a slight uptick.
Infosys fell 2 percent after 78 lakh equity shares changed hands in multiple block deals on BSE and NSE at around Rs 1,150 apiece.
Heavyweights such as TCS, HUL, Reliance, L&T and BHEL were the key losers on the Sensex while Cipla, ONGC, NTPC, Tata Steel, Hero Moto were among the major gaines.
The broader market traded outperformed the benchmark indices with the BSE midcap and BSE smallcap indices gaining 0.37 and 0.47 per cent, respectively.
Rupee Edges Higher but Only Marginally
The rupee edged higher by 8 paise to 67.13 against the US dollar on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. Besides, sustained foreign capital inflows gave the rupee some muscle, dealers said. A subdued trend in domestic equities and dollar’s strength against other currencies overseas, however, restricted the gains.
The rupee bounced back by 14 paise to close at 67.21 in Wednesday’s trade on fag-end selling of the dollar.
Asian Stocks Gain Ahead of ECB Policy Meet; Oil Prices Rise
Asian stocks edged higher, encouraged by a rally in crude oil prices and expectations that the European Central Bank will ease policy later in the day, emulating policymakers elsewhere.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan nudged up 0.4 percent. Volatile Shanghai stocks , however, dropped 1.2 percent.
South Korea’s KOSPI rose 0.6 percent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.7 percent and Japan’s Nikkei climbed 1 percent.
The focus was on how much the ECB, which had already cut rates into negative territory, would ease.
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