Frontline indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended in the red on September 6 with banking, financial and FMCG stocks among the top drags.
Global markets were mixed and media reports suggested that European stocks saw some gains as concerns over surging gas prices eased while hope prevailed that Britain's new prime minister Liz Truss would launch a relief package there.
Sensex closed with a loss of 49 points, or 0.08%, at 59,196.99 while the Nifty settled at 17,655.60, down 10 points or 0.06%. Mid and smallcaps outperformed as the BSE Midcap index ended 0.47% higher while the Smallcap index advanced 0.10%.
Shares of NTPC, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Reliance Industries and Power Grid ended as the top gainers. In contrast, those of Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra and Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever and Bajaj Finance ended as the top laggards in the Sensex basket of stocks.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Power rose almost 2% while Utilities, Oil & Gas and Energy indices rose more than a percent each.
Over 210 stocks, including ITC, NTPC, Adani Enterprises, Apollo Tyres, Ashok Leyland, Bank of Baroda, Brigade Enterprises and ITD Cementation, hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE.
Crude oil benchmark Brent Crude traded below the $95 a barrel mark while the rupee ended flat at 79.84 per dollar.
“Domestic indices wiped out their early gains to close flat, tracking mixed global cues. The energy crisis and the upcoming ECB (European Central Bank) interest rate decision pressurized European markets,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
"Chinese policymakers’ renewed efforts to strengthen its economy boded well for the Chinese bourses. In an effort to stabilize declining oil prices, OPEC+ opted to cut back on the output given the faltering global growth outlook," Nair added.
Technicals
Nifty fell prey to profit-booking. As Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities highlighted, on the lower end, 17,600 acted as support for the index. The trend remains sideways as the Nifty failed to provide any directional breakout. Resistance is seen at 17,770, whereas support is visible at 17,580 and 17,468, he said.
The Nifty opened firm but witnessed profit booking again near its important resistance level of 17,750. Currently, the index is consolidating near the 20-day SMA (simple moving average) and taking support near 17,550, Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities, observed.
"As long as the index is holding the 17,550 level, it could retest the level of 17,750-17,850. On the flip side, a fresh round of selling is possible after the dismissal of 17,550 and on the further decline, it could slip till 17,500-17,400," said Chouhan.
Key market data
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