Sensex extends losses, down 59 points on global cues

Mumbai: Continuing its downward journey for the second straight day, BSE Sensex on Wednesday fell over 59 points to end at 28,005.37 on selling mainly in IT, Oil&Gas, pharma counters as participants remained cautious amid indication that US Fed could raise rates as early as September.

The BSE benchmark index today opened marginally lower at 28,061.79 and hovered in a range of 28,174.30 to 27,960.14 before closing at 28,005.37, showing a fall of 59.24 points or 0.21 percent. The gauge had lost 87.79 points in the previous session.

The 50-issue Nifty fell 18.50 points or 0.21 percent to close at 8,624.05. Intra-day, it hovered between 8,667.10 and 8,603.60. Of the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 today closed in the red.

Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said, "Comments from Fed presidents playing up chances of even a September US rate hike, kept global markets on a watch mode, especially with FOMC minutes due for release later in the day."

"Indian stocks continued to get picked up from lower levels, but with few immediate domestic triggers, buyers were seen reluctant to chase prices higher," he added.

Besides, the domestic market sentiment was affected by the discouraging macro-economic data as wholesale inflation soared to a 23-month high of 3.55 percent in July, making investors trim their positions.

Globally, bourses witnessed caution among investors after New York Fed President William Dudley said the Fed could raise interest rates as soon as September, prompting participants to pause after rallies in recent weeks.

Asian markets like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea moved down by 0.02 percent to 0.54 percent. European shares also edged lower with key indices in France, Germany and the UK fell up to 0.68 percent.

IT exporters continued to drag the indices down as Infosys today fell 1.67 percent after Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to cancel a project to set up a separate bank in the UK.

Other IT stocks also faced selling pressure and ended lower. TCS fell 2.51 percent and Wipro 1.40 percent.

On domestic bourses, other major losers were Adaniports (2.34 percent), followed by power grid (1.69 percent), Asian paints (1.41 percent), RIL (1.00 percent), HUL (0.87 percent), ITC (0.80 percent), GAIL (0.70 percent), cipla (0.65 percent) and ICICI Bank (0.56 percent).

Among the gainers were Tata steel (3.20 percent), Coal India (2.90 percent), Bajaj Auto (1.99 percent), Heromoto (1.98 percent), Axis Bank (1.14 percent), ONGC (1.13 percent) and HDFC Bank (0.92 percent).

Broader markets, however, showed a firm trend as mid-cap rose by 0.69 percent and small-cap indices edged up 0.55 percent.

Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT fell the most by 1.67 percent followed by teck 1.35 percent, FMCG 0.31 percent, Oil&Gas 0.25 percent and power 0.13 percent.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 684.73 crs yesterday, as per provisional data released by the stock exchanges.