By Malvika Gurung
The domestic market made a positive opening on Wednesday tracking decent gains on Wall Street in the overnight session and mixed cues from Asian equities. However, benchmark indices reversed a modest uptick and slid to red later in the session.
At the time of writing, headlines Nifty50 slipped 0.21% to 18,364.7 points and Sensex declined 0.24% or 147.4 points. The market volatility barometer India VIX surged 3.64% to 14.28.
Healthcare and pharmaceutical stocks including Divi’s Labs and Apollo Hospitals (NS:APLH) supported the market, along with banking equities, while the FMCG sector exerted pressure. Heavyweights Bharti Airtel (NS:BRTI), ITC, ONGC (NS:ONGC), Adani Enterprises (NS:ADEL), Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (NS:HLL) and HDFC (NS:HDFC) were among the top laggards on the Nifty index.
Sectoral indices under the Nifty umbrella traded mixed, led by Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Pharma, while Nifty FMCG declined the most. Nifty Bank traded 0.08% lower.
The state-owned lender Punjab & Sind Bank (NS:PUNA) was the only stock on the 12-scrip Nifty PSU Bank index that traded in the red, while UCO Bank (NS:UCBK) and Indian Overseas Bank (NS:IOBK) headed the gains, zooming upto 10%.
Analysts globally remain cautious about the rising Covid-19 cases in the US, China, Korea and Brazil. Investors back home await the meeting minutes of RBI MPC set to release on Wednesday.