Nifty ends below 8,300 amid volatility; ITC slumps 3%

Benchmark indices end marginally lower on Wednesday amid volatility as weakness in the metal shares owing to a growth forecast cut by the World Bank and Index heavyweight ITC capped gains. Also, the wholesale price index-based inflation which inched up to 0.11% in December weighed on the indices.

Provisionally, the 30-share Sensex shed 44 points to end at 27,381 and the 50-share Nifty lost 11 points to close at 8,288.

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(updated at 2.25PM)

Benchmark indices are trading lower in the late noon trades after the wholesale price index-based inflation inched up to 0.11% in December, snapping a six-month easing trend as food costs jumped up year-on-year. Also, weakness in the metal shares owing to a growth forecast cut by the World Bank is weighing on the exchanges.

At 2.35PM, the 30-share Sensex is down 83 points at 27,343 and the 50-share Nifty has shed 23 points at 8,277.

Meanwhile, foreign institutional investors were net buyers in Indian equities worth Rs 235 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data.

Key Events:

However, inflation in manufactured products, which has the highest weight of almost 65% in WPI, declined over this period due to low demand and global prices, while fuel prices declined as international crude rates softened, official data released on Wednesday showed.

The price of oil has dipped below $45 a barrel following the latest sign from OPEC that the group doesn't plan to cut production.

The World Bank has cut its forecast for global growth, warning that the world economy remained overly reliant on the “single engine” of the US recovery. 

Rupee:

The rupee strengthened by four paise to 62.10 against the dollar on Wednesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, extending its upward march for the sixth day on sustained selling of the American currency by exporters amid fresh overseas capital inflows.

Key Stocks:

On the sectoral front, BSE Metal index is the top loser down nearly 3% followed by FMCG, Oil & Gas and Healthcare indices trading lower by 0.6%. However, BSE IT index is the top gainer up 1% followed by Power and Teck indices up 0.3%.

The metal pack is trading lower with Hindalco and Sesa Sterlite leading the declinedown 5.5% after copper futures dived 6.2 percent to $5,499 a tonne when major chart support cracked and triggered a host of stop-loss sales. World Bank had cut its 2015 growth forecasts blaming sluggishness in the euro zone, Japan and some major emerging economies. Tata Steel is down 2.5%.

ITC is down 3% on talk that the government plans to ban sale of loose cigarettes. Among other cigarette stocks, VST Industries was down 1.4% while GOdfrey Phillips lost 3%.

Oil shares are trading under pressure on the back of a further slide in the crude prices. RIL and GAIL are down between 0.5-1%.

Wipro, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank and L&T are some of the notable losers down between 1-3%.

Shares of fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies are on a roll with most of the frontline companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Marico and Nestle India are trading at their respective lifetime highs on the BSE. HUL is up 3%.

In the IT pack, Infosys continued to witness buying interest post its third quarter earnings and is up 1.5%. TCS is up 0.9% ahead of its third quarter earnings on Thursday.

Capital goods shares firmed up on the back of encouraging November industrial growth. BHEL has gained 3%.

In the broader market, the BSE Mid-cap and Small-cap indices are trading flat with negative bias.

Market breadth is weak with 1,178 advances and 1,557 losers on the BSE.