 "National Stock Exchange")
Benchmark share indices ended marginally lower amid profit taking in late trades weighed down by select index heavyweights ahead of the expiry of December F&O contracts tomorrow.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended down 119 points at 25,960 and Nifty50 ended down 33 points at 7,896.
However, the broader markets outperformed the benchmark indices with BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended up 0.1% each. Market breadth ended positive with 1,387 gainers and 1275 losers on the BSE.
"There was lack of participation and activity by institutional investors because of the year-end holidays. Further, cash volumes remained miniscule ahead of the expiry of December F&O contracts tomorrow," says Mayuresh Joshi, Fund Manager, Angel Broking
The rupee was trading marginally lower at 66.43 to the US dollar compared to its previous close of 66.39 on month-end demand from importers.
GLOBAL MARKETS
European shares were trading lower with mining and energy shares among the losers because of weak commodity and crude oil prices. The CAC-40, DAX and FTSE-100 were down 0.1%-0.4% each.
Asian shares ended mixed on Wednesday after Japan and China's benchmark share indices ended with marginal gains. The Nikkei and Shanghai Composite each ended nearly 0.3% higher. Among other major markets in the region, Straits Times and Hang Seng ended down 0.1%-0.5% each.
SECTORS & STOCKS
BSE IT, Bankex, Auto, Oil and Gas indices were the top losers while BSE Power, Metal and FMCG indices were among the gainers.
Bank shares were among the top losers. ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank ended down 0.2%-1.2% each.
IT majors also witnessed profit taking with Infosys, TCS and Wipro ended down 1%-1.6% each.
Index heavyweight Reliance Industries ended down 1.3%.
Dr Reddy’s Lab ended 0.6% higher as it re-launched its generic version of Nexium in the US.
Bharti Airtel has acquired 74% stake in Augere Wireless, which holds 4G spectrum in Madhya Pradesh, but did not disclose financial details of the deal. Shares of Bharti Airtel ended 0.5% lower.
Mortgage lender HDFC ended flat. Standard Life received approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its stake in HDFC Life Insurance by 9% to 35%.
HDFC Bank ended down 0.3%. The bank reduced its base rate, or minimum lending rate, by five basis points (bps) to 9.3%, making it at par with that of State Bank of India.
Among other shares, Prakash Steelage ended down after the board of directors at its meeting held on December 29, 2015 approved some proposals including stock-split of equity shares for approval of members through postal ballot.
SREI Infrastructure Finance ended down after investors booked profits following sharp gains in the previous session. SREI Infrastructure Finance had gained sharply in the previous session after France-based BNP Paribas Lease Group acquired shares in SREI Infrastructure Finance
Petron Engineering Construction surged nearly 5% after the company in a release said that it has received a Letter of Intent from JSW Cement Ltd for civil and structural work for 2 x 1.2MTPA GGBS Grinding Unit at Salboni, West Bengal.
Select ceramic players ended higher amid media reports stating that the commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the government would consider anti-dumping duty for the tiles industry. Nitco ended up 20% while Somany Ceramics ended over 4% higher.
