Sensex, Nifty under pressure for fourth consecutive day

NEW DELHI: After three days of consecutive fall, domestic benchmark equity indices were under pressure again in Wednesday's trade. After a gap-up opening, the indices gave up all gains soon.

At 10:05 am, the BSE Sensex was trading 233 points or 0.43 per cent lower at 54,132. Nifty50 was trading at 16,163, down 76 points or 0.47 per cent.

"For the last couple of sessions, Nifty50 has been hovering near the key barrier of 16,400 as it acted as a support earlier. A failure to sustain above this hurdle suggests that the index can see selling pressure again. Appearance of Gravestone Doji on the daily chart suggests sellers are more aggressive at current levels. If the Nifty50 trades below 16,140, it can extend the recent correction towards 15,990. Resistance stands at 16,400," YES Securities said.

Among Sensex stocks, Tech Mahindra rose 1.7 per cent to Rs 1,263.70. Tata Steel advanced 1.43 per cent to Rs 1,182.05. HDFC, Bajaj Finserv, Power Grid, Bharti Airtel and UltraTech Cement rose up to 1.2 per cent. ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank added up to 0.6 per cent.

Losers included Asian Paints, which fell 2 per cent to Rs 3,022.40. Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys, IndusInd Bank and Titan Company declined up to 1.15 per cent.

Adani Ports, Punjab National Bank, Petronet LNG, Relaxo Footwears, Indian Bank, SKF India, BSE, Mangalore Refinery & Petrochem, Cholamandalam Financial Holdings, Balaji Amines, Lakshmi Machine Works, Birla Corporation and Kalyan Jewellers are among the companies which will announce their quarterly earnings today.

"While the economy has shown signs of growth, inflationary pressures continue to loom amid elevated input and labour costs and ongoing supply chain disruptions. Amid the turbulent economic environment, investors await on the next set of earnings results during the week, along with several IPOs which are expected to open for subscription," said Mitul Shah, Head of Research at Reliance Securities, who said global markets are likely to determine the trajectory of Indian equities in the near future.

Asia's equities on Tuesday showed deep uncertainty, with Tokyo, Hong Kong and Korea opening slightly up, while Singapore, Sydney and Seoul volleyed in the negatives.