Nifty ends lower in volatile trade, down 13 pts

Snapping its three-session gains, the benchmark NSE Nifty slipped in a choppy session on the last day of derivatives expiry for January series, closing marginally down by 13.10 points to 7,424.65.
Sidelining the conclusion of key US FOMC meet as Federal Reserve kept the rate unchanged, Investors puzzled with caution as the committee hinted at door open for March rate hike, while acknowledging economic growth slowed since its last December hike.
The choppy session saw the market witnessing small gains and losses in the midst of stock specific action following mute Q3 earning results in select bluechips and also bouts of short-covering due to January F&O expiry day as the key index ended with modest losses.

Selling was led by Banks, Financials, Auto, Infra, Metal, Realty and Auto along with shares of midcap and smallcap companies.
Buying was witnessed mainly in FMCG, Energy and Pharma counters.
Elsewhere, Asia stocks were mixed, while Shanghai Composite Index sank 2.92 per cent despite injection of Chinese central bank huge cash into the financial system. European stocks were trading lower in their afternoon trade

The 50-share Nifty opened lower at 7,426.50 and hovered between a high of 7,468.85 and a low of 7,409.60 before ending at 7,424.65, up modestly lower by 13.10 points or 0.18 per cent.
Major index losser were Idea (4.47 per cent), L&T (3.01 per cent), PNB (2.51 per cent), Axis Bank (2.35 per cent), Grasim (2.30 per cent), Adani Port (2.09 per cent) and HDFC (1.90 per cent).

Notable gainers were VEDL by 5.49 per cent, followed by Cairn (4.30 per cent), PowerGrid (3.94 per cent), HUL (3.11 per cent) and M&M (2.33 per cent) and Reliance 1.76 per cent.
Turnover in cash segment surged to Rs 20,783.04 crore from Rs 15,222.75 crore yesterday. A total of 11,483.10 lakh shares changed hands in 72,55,679 trades.
The market capitalisation of NSE stood at Rs 90,61,636 crore.