Equity indices close lower on selling pressure (Third Lead)

Key Indian equity indices on Wednesday provisionally closed in the red -- after a range-bound trade session -- as selling pressure was witnessed in banking, capital goods and IT stocks.

The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) provisionally closed (at 3.30 p.m.) lower by 21.55 points or 0.21 per cent at 10,476.70 points.

The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at 34,563.30 points, closed at 34,082.71 points -- down 113.23 points or 0.33 per cent from its previous session's close.

The Sensex touched a high of 34,666.33 points and a low of 34,059.59 points during intra-day trade.

The BSE market breadth was, however, bullish with 2,044 advances and 680 declines.

During the afternoon session, the equity markets traded flat after the Reserve Bank of India in its final bi-monthly monetary policy review of the fiscal kept the key interest rate unchanged at six per cent for the fourth time in succession, citing concerns about the inflationary push by rising global crude oil prices.

On Tuesday, the key indices witnessed their steepest intra-day fall -- with the Sensex shedding a staggering 1,200 points before recovering by over 700 points -- in almost two-and-a-half years following a global sell-off.

The Sensex closed at 34,195.94 points, down 561.22 points or 1.61 per cent, while the Nifty50 closed trade at 10,498.25 points -- down 168.30 points or 1.58 per cent.

--IANS

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