Sensex ends 57 points up in volatile trade, Nifty settles at 7,980; Coffee Day surges 15%

Domestic equity indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty swung between gains and losses on Wednesday as investors stayed cautious ahead of US FOMC meet outcome due today and F&O expiry on Thursday. Later, Sensex closed 56.82 points up at 26,064.12, while Nifty settled 17.25 points up at 7,979.90.

In the 50-share index, Adani Ports, Bharti Airtel, ONGC, Bharti Infratel and GAIL gained between 2.65 per cent and 5.38 per cent. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, State Bank of India (SBI), UltraTech Cement and Tata Power slid between 1.80 per cent and 3.45 per cent.

Sectorwise, the BSE Telecom index, BSE Oil & Gas index and BSE FMCG index gained 2.93 per cent, 1.23 per cent and 1.02 per cent, respectively. The BSE Bankex, BSE Power index and BSE Realty index slid 0.87 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.48 per cent, respectively.

Achin Goel, head, wealth management and financial planning, Bonanza Portfolio said, “Nifty was seen trading in a very narrow channel throughout the day’s session due to absence of fresh cues from both international and domestic markets.”

Gains remained capped as market participants remained concerned with global rating agency Moody’s warning to the government over the bad loan situation. The rating agency believes that rising credit profile of corporate India may pose a rating risk to the country.

Axis Bank plunged 3.11 per cent after the private bank on Tuesday posted an unexpected fall in net profit and said it expected bad loans to rise in the current financial year.

Indian banks’ bad loans have surged in the past six months after an asset quality review ordered by the central bank as part of a clean-up exercise.

NHPC dipped 6.51 per cent after the government on Tuesday announced an 11.36 per cent stake sale in the company to raise up to Rs 2,800 crore.

Among the gainers, telecom tower infrastructure provider Bharti Infratel rose 3.17 per cent after the company’s board approved a buyback proposal.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as the yen strengthened and weak earnings results from iPhone maker Apple put pressure on technology stocks. A sharp overnight rally in oil prices and positive industrial profits data out of China failed to lift investor sentiment ahead of key central bank decisions from the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. The Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting ends later today, with investors mainly looking for guidance on the outlook for interest rates. Rate decisions from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Bank of Japan are due on Thursday. Chinese shares ended lower even as positive industrial profits data boosted hopes the economic recovery is gaining momentum. Profits of China’s major industrial firms climbed an annual 11.1 per cent in March, up from a 4.8 per cent rise in the Jan-Feb period. Japanese shares ended lower with a strengthening yen, disappointing earnings and anxiety ahead of the BOJ verdict weighing on markets.