Mumbai, June 18 (IANS). Indian Equity Benchmark Sensex and Nifty closed in red mark on Wednesday. At the end of the trading, shopping was seen in auto and private bank shares. Investors were cautious due to increasing stress between Israel and Iran, causing ups and downs in the business session.
The Sensex closed down 138.64 points or 0.17 percent to close at 81,444.66 after reaching 81,237 of the day. Similarly, the Nifty closed at 24,812.05, declining 41.35 points or 0.17 percent.
Vinod Nair of Geojit Investments Limited said, “With the supportive base of domestic macro, long-term outlook remains intact and investors’ attention is likely to be focused on high quality large-cap stocks until more clarity comes.”
He said that investors’ focus will be on the policy of American Fed today and the possibility of high inflation due to tariff threats may motivate the Federal Open Market Committee to keep the rates unchanged.
In the Sensex Pack, TCS, Hindustan Unilever, Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv and NTPC were among the top losquers, all fell by 1.79 percent.
On the other hand, IndusInd Bank, Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Asian Paints and Bharti Airtel were included in the top gainers list, which rose by 4.4 percent.
The broad market also closed in red mark, the Nifty Midcap 100 index declined by 0.46 percent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell by 0.23 percent.
On the sectoral front, the Nifty media was the worst performing with a decline of 1.27 percent.
Sectors like IT, Metal, Oil and Gas, Reality, Energy, PSU Bank and FMCG fell and closed.
However, the consumer durable items, autos and banking sector shares provided some relief and closed up rapidly.
Prior to the policy announcement of the US Federal Reserve, vigilance also affected the notion of investors.
Market participants are closely monitoring their views on the comment of the US Fed Chairman Geom Powell for any indication of interest rate cuts in future and the possible impact of rising crude oil prices on the US economy.
Additionally, India Wicks fell 0.89 percent to close at 14.27, reflecting a relatively stable investor perception.
-IANS
SKT/
