Sensex, Nifty Fall For Second Day; HPCL Declines Nearly 3%

Sensex closed 43 points lower at 34,906 on Wednesday, extending its losses to the second straight session. The NSE Nifty settled at 10,614, down 18 points. Domestic equities were under pressure tracking a selloff in global markets amid a political crisis in Italy. 

The Sensex and Nifty were dragged lower by energy, pharma and infrastructure shares. Also, cautious trade a day ahead of expiry of derivatives for May contracts was observed, say analysts.. Thirty two stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index finished in the negative zone. Top losers on the Nifty 50 were HPCL, Hindalco Industries, Grasim Industries, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank, finishing between 1.7 per cent and 2.8 per cent lower.

Pharma stocks declined, with the NSE's sectoral index Nifty Pharma finished more than 1 per cent lower. Sun Pharma, Lupin and Dr Reddy's Laboratories closed nearly 1 per cent lower each. Piramal Enterprises fell 2.2 per cent while Divi's Laboratories declined 1.4 per cent.

Oil refiners and retailers took a hit after Indian Oil Corporation marginally cut petrol and diesel prices after 16 days of consecutive hikes. Shares in IOC and Bharat Petroleum Corp ended with losses of around 1 per cent each.

However, downside in the markets was capped due to some buying witnessed in banking stocks. The NSE's secrotal index of banking shares, Bank Nifty, finished 0.3 per cent higher while the Nifty PSU Bank rose 0.6 per cent. Shares in state-run State Bank of India (SBI) settled 1.1 per cent higher while Yes Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1.5 per cent each. HDFC Bank gained 0.8 per cent.

Fortis Healthcare closed 1.1 per cent higher, a day after the company launched a new round of bidding for itself. The cash-strapped hospital operator's board is also scheduled to meet to approve quarterly results on Wednesday.

In the global equity markets, investors feared that repeat elections in the euro zone's third-largest economy - which could come as soon as July - may become a de-facto referendum on Italian membership of the currency bloc and the country's role in the European Union. The euro hit a 10-month low on fears of repeat elections in the Eurozone's third-largest economy. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tumbled 1.4 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had net sold shares worth Rs. 407.33 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth Rs. 578.38 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional data from the NSE.

(With Agency Inputs)