The Indian equity benchmarks snapped a four-day winning streak on November 2 to end lower as investors remained cautious ahead of the US Fed meeting outcome later in the night and a day ahead of the RBI's unscheduled meeting.
At close, the Sensex was down 215.26 points, or 0.35 percent, at 60,906.09, and the Nifty was down 62.60 points, or 0.34 percent, at 18,082.80.
"With the FOMC's outcome around the corner, profit booking and a risk-off mood dragged the domestic market to trade with cuts," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Strong US employment figures dented expectations of a slowdown in rate hikes. Since the market has already priced in a 75 basis point rate hike by the Federal Reserve, market movement will be determined by its comments on its next move, he added.
One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
The Reserve Bank of India will hold a meeting on November 3 which was called after its monetary policy committee failed to stick to its mandate of keeping inflation between 2 percent and 6 percent for three quarters in a row. A section of the market fears that the meeting can see a rate action.
Bharti Airtel, Apollo Hospitals, Maruti Suzuki, Eicher Motors and Britannia Industries were among the top Nifty losers. Gainers included Hindalco Industries, Sun Pharma, ITC, ONGC and Tech Mahindra.
On the sectoral front, selling was seen in Nifty bank, auto, information technology and PSU bank names. Metal and pharma indices gained 0.5 percent each.
The BSE midcap index ended flat, while the smallcap index was up 0.2 percent.
On the BSE, auto, information technology, realty and power indices lost 0.5-1 percent. Healthcare and metal, however, were up 0.5 percent each.
Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 300 percent was seen in LIC Housing Finance, Chambal Fertilisers and Polycab India.
A short build-up was seen in LIC Housing Finance, Chambal Fertilisers and SRF, while a short build-up was witnessed in Vedanta, Alkem and Syngene International.
Coal India, Granules India, Axiscades Technologies, ITC, Torrent Pharmaceuticals, Trent, Unichem Laboratories, Karnataka Bank, Cochin Shipyard and BLS International Services, touched a 52-week high on the BSE.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities
After rallying sharply over the past week or so, markets finally took a breather ahead of the Fed's rate hike decision.
Traders booked profit in some counters on worries of a sharp correction worldwide in case the rate hike is above expectation and the Fed maintains a hawkish stance.
On daily charts, the Nifty formed a small bearish candle with a double-top formation on intraday charts. For the index, 18,000 and 17,950 will act as key support zones, while 18,200-18,250 will be the immediate hurdle.
Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head, Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas
The Nifty opened gap up but couldn’t build upon early gains. On the daily chart, the index formed a bearish outside bar along with an Engulfing bear candle. This makes the day’s high of 18,178 a key resistance.
The hourly chart also shows weakness creeping in again.
Going ahead, 18000 will be the make or break level. The short-term trajectory can remain positive as long as the Nifty sustains above 18,000. On the flip side, a breach of 18,000 on a closing basis will push the index in consolidation mode.
Disclaimer: The views and investment tips expressed by experts on Moneycontrol are their own and not those of the website or its management. Moneycontrol.com advises users to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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