The Indian equity benchmarks snapped their two-day winning run on Wednesday a day ahead of monthly expiry of futures and options contracts dragged by losses in index heavyweights like HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, Axis Bank ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank. For most part of the day benchmarks traded in a rangebound manner with Sensex moving in a band of 400 points and Nifty 50 index touched an intraday high of 17,285.95 and low of 17,176.65. However, selling pressure in banking stocks in last 30 minutes of trade led to downfall in the markets.
The Sensex ended 91 points lower at 57,806 and Nifty 50 index slipped 20 points to close at 17,214.
Sentiment has become risk averse on Dalal Street as investors are assessing the economic impact of Omicron variant of Coronavirus on the economy as many state governments in the country are imposing restrictions to control its spread, analysts said.
Selling pressure was broad-based as twelve of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended lower led by the Nifty Metal index's over 1 per cent fall. Nifty Private Bank, PSU Bank, Consumer Durables, Oil & Gas Media, Financial Srervices and Bank indices also fell between 0.5-0.9 per cent.
On the other hand, Nifty Pharma, Healthcare and Auto indices ended higher.
Mid- and small-cap shares ended on a mixed note as Nifty Midcap 100 index ended on a flat note while Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.5 per cent.
Shares of cinema hall operator PVR fell 2 per cent to Rs 1,261 after Delhi Government ordered closure of movie theatres to control the spread of Omicron variant of Coronavirus.
State Bank of India was top Nifty loser, the stock fell 1.73 per cent to close at Rs 453. ITC, Coal India, Grasim Industries, NTPC, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank, Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Hindalco and Kotak Mahindra Bank also fell between 0.9-1.6 per cent.
On the flipside, Eicher Motors, Sun Pharma, Divi's Labs, IndusInd Bank, Dr Reddy's Labs, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Finserv and Titan were among the gainers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 2,047 shares ended higher while 1,330 closed lower on the BSE.
