Sensex and Nifty finish flat as investors remain wary of US Federal Reserve decision on rates
Shares of Reliance Industries jumped to a record high of Rs 872 during afternoon session after Trai slashed call termination charges.
The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex closed almost flat on Wednesday, declining just 1.86 points to end the day at 32,400.51. The National Stock Exchange Nifty also fell just 6.40 points to close at 10,141.15.
The lack of movement in the indices on Wednesday is a result of fatigue in the market following several days of upswing, Anita Gandhi, director of Arihant Capital Markets, told Mint. “Markets are expected to consolidate gains till companies report their September-quarter earnings,” she added. The US Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates steady in its policy statement on Wednesday, which also made investors wary.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Tata Steel, ITC, Wipro and State Bank of India were the top five gainers on the Sensex. The five stocks that declined the most were Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma, Hindustan Unilever and ICICI Bank.
At the NSE, the five biggest gainers were Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Bank of Baroda, Tata Steel, ITC and ONGC. The top five losers were BPCL, Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors, Sun Pharma and Ambuja Cement.
Telecom shares dipped marginally after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Tuesday reduced call termination charges to 6 paise a minute from 14 paise. However, shares of Reliance Industries jumped to a record high of over Rs 872 on the NSE following the Trai decision, which affected the company’s mobile unit. However, the share price at close was Rs 848.
The Asian markets, except the Taiwan TSEC 50 Index, rose on Wednesday. The Hong Kong Hang Seng finished 76 points up, the Nikkei 225 11 points and the Shanghai SE Composite Index over nine points.
The rupee was trading at 64.25 against the United States dollar at 4.15 pm.