Nifty slips 46 points, ahead of F&O expiry

The NSE Nifty slipped by 46.60 points to 11,691.90 following hectic profit-booking in energy, media, infra and pharma sectors ahead of August F&O expiry due tomorrow.

Rise in crude oil prices due to withholding of supply by Iran as well as a depreciating rupee too added to the negative sentiment. The Indian currency fell to a fresh record low of 70.65 per US dollar.

After a volatile opening, Nifty were almost flat in morning trade following some range bound trading. It hit fresh intraday low in late trade as selling intensified.

However, there was a strong upmove in the broader markets, with the Nifty Midcap index ending just around half a percent higher.

The Nifty slipped 46.60 points or 0.40 per cent to end at 11,691.90. The Nifty rose 14.70 points at the day's high of 11,753.20 in early trade. The index fell 59.65 points, at the day's low of 11,678.85 in late trade.

It saw an intra-day movement of about 74.35 points.

On the sectoral front, Energy fell by 1.12 per cent followed by Media 0.44 per cent, Infra 0.41 per cent, Pharma 0.41 per cent, IT 0.37 per cent, Private Bank 0.27 per cent, FMCG 0.20 per cent and Bank 0.16 per cent.

While, PSU bank rose by 1.61 per cent, Realty 1.18 per cent, metal 1.03 per cent, Auto 0.12 per cent and Finance Service 0.09 per cent.

Major index gainers, UPL, Baj Finance, SBIN, ONGC, BPCL, GAIL, Tata Motors, IOC and Tata Steel.

Losers were Coal India, Powergrid, Reliance, Eicher Motors, Lupin, reliance, IndusIndBank and EicherMotors.

The market breadth, indicating its overall health, remained lossers. On the NSE, 845 stocks advanced, 953 declined and 93 remained unchanged. Total securities that have hit their price bands were 231.

Turnover in the cash segment rose to Rs 35,363.26 crore from Rs 32,636.51 crore as on Tuesday.

A total of 16,351.38 lakh shares changed hands in 1,17,01,834 trades. The market capitalisation of listed firms on NSE stood at Rs 1,56,75,926.95 crore.