MUMBAI: Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty declined for the second straight session on Thursday as investors locked in profits ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy decision and fresh foreign fund outflows.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell 213.12 points or 0.27 per cent to close at 78,058.16, dragged down by selling in blue-chip stocks such as Bharti Airtel, ITC and SBI. The index opened higher but slipped into negative territory in morning trade as investors turned cautious. It hit an intraday low of 77,843.99, down 427.29 points or 0.54 per cent.
The NSE Nifty declined 92.95 points or 0.39 per cent to end at 23,603.35, with 30 of its constituents finishing in the red.
Among Sensex stocks, Bharti Airtel fell 2.47 per cent to emerge as the top loser. The telecom major reported a five-fold jump in profit for the third quarter of 2024-25 after market hours.
Titan, NTPC, State Bank of India (SBI), ITC, Tata Steel, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors were among the other major laggards. On the other hand, Adani Ports, Infosys, Axis Bank, HCL Technologies, Tech Mahindra and IndusInd Bank advanced.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) began deliberations on the monetary policy on Wednesday, with the decision set to be announced on Friday.
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“The benchmark indices saw a moderate decline as investors awaited the RBI’s stance on a possible rate cut amid the ongoing trade war. The broader market remained in a consolidation phase despite the government’s focus on boosting consumption to counter slowing growth,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.
“After a strong start, markets slipped into the red and traded in a narrow range with a negative bias for most of the session. Investors booked profits in rate-sensitive stocks like realty and auto ahead of the monetary policy announcement,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
The BSE midcap index fell 0.87 per cent, while the smallcap index ended almost flat, down 2.18 points.
Among sectoral indices, realty dropped the most at 2.15 per cent, followed by consumer durables (2.04 per cent), telecommunication (1.73 per cent), consumer discretionary (1.34 per cent), power (1.16 per cent) and auto (0.86 per cent).
BSE healthcare, IT, services, bankex and BSE Focused IT were the gainers.
On the BSE, 2,030 stocks declined, 1,908 advanced, and 125 remained unchanged.
