Sensex snaps 4-day rally, falls 346 pts; Nifty down 99 pts

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty cut short their four-day gaining streak to close lower by half a per cent on Wednesday due to profit-taking in banking oil and metal stocks amid weak trends in global markets.

Snapping its four-day rally, the 30-share BSE Sensex fell 346.89 points or 0.55 per cent to settle at 62,622.24. During the day, it tumbled 568.11 points or 0.90 per cent to 62,401.02.

The NSE Nifty declined 99.45 points or 0.53 per cent to end at 18,534.40.

In the four-day rally to Tuesday, Sensex advanced by 1,195 points or 2 per cent while Nifty rose by 348 points or 2.26 per cent.

From the Sensex pack, Axis Bank, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, HDFC, HDFC Bank, NTPC, Tata Steel and UltraTech Cement were the major laggards on Wednesday.

Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Sun Pharma, Tata Motors and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the gainers.

"As indicated by multiple economic data points, the Indian economy is presently experiencing a robust recovery, leading to an upward trend in domestic equity markets. However, the rally is being hindered at times due to negative signals from global peers, as observed today.

"Concerns about a recession and potential interest rate hikes in western markets are impacting the domestic market but it is nevertheless maintaining the outperformance," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong ended lower.

European equity markets were trading in the negative territory. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 1.33 per cent to USD 72.53 a barrel.

Investors will also keep an eye on the Q4 GDP numbers to be announced later on Wednesday, which will provide some sense on where the economy is headed in the near to medium term, Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said. 

The BSE benchmark climbed 122.75 points or 0.20 per cent to settle at 62,969.13 on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 35.20 points or 0.19 per cent to end at 18,633.85.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net buyers on Tuesday as they bought equities worth Rs 2,085.62 crore, according to exchange data.