Indian shares declined for a second day in a row on Wednesday, January 3, with benchmark Sensex dropping by 535 points owing to selling in HDFC Bank and IT shares amid weak global trends.
The Sensex slipped 536 points to 71,357 and the Nifty 148 points to 21,517. The Nifty Bank has fallen 57 points to 47,705, while the Midcap Index rose 139 points to 46.529. The metal stocks fell, tracking a fall in global prices, with Hindalco being the top loser.
Among the Sensex firms, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, Wipro, Tata Consultancy Services, Nestle, HCL Technologies, HDFC Bank and Maruti were the major laggards. IndusInd Bank, ITC, Bharti Airtel and
State Bank of India were among the winners.
Bajaj Auto shares hit a record high and crossed ₹7,000 on reports of the auto major considering share buyback. The Adani Group stocks also ended with strong gains after the Supreme Court ruling, with most scrips rising between 1-10%. Biocon also moved 6% higher to hit a 52-week high on healthy volumes.
Union oil minister Hardeep Puri’s comment of no discussion concerning price cuts has lifted the oil marketing company's (OMC) stocks.
India's manufacturing sector growth fell to an 18-month low in December amid a softer increase in factory orders and output, despite minimal inflation, a monthly survey said on Wednesday.
The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI survey, conducted by S&P Global, showed that there were softer, albeit sharp, increase in factory orders and output, while business confidence towards the year-ahead outlook strengthened.
The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) fell from 56 in November to an 18-month low of 54.9 in December. Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.55% to $75.47 a barrel.
With inputs from agencies
(Edited by : Ajay Vaishnav)
