BSE Sensex falls as rate cut bets taper off

Reuters Market Eye - The BSE Sensex is down 0.47 percent, while the Nifty falls 0.49 percent, heading for a third day of fall.

Rate-sensitive stocks such as ICICI bank falls 1.3 percent while mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corp is down 1 percent, after January industrial production and February CPI rose, paring some of the rate cut bets.

Traders say wholesale price-based inflation data, due on Thursday, would be crucial for cementing final views on monetary easing ahead of the central bank's policy review on March 19.

However, Power Grid Corporation gains 0.4 percent after Goldman Sachs upgrades the stock to "buy" from "sell", citing inexpensive valuations.

 

(Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi)