Markets end day's trading in red: Sensex falls 173 points, Nifty down 43 points; TCS, Titan, ICICI Bank among major losers

After erasing initial gains, the benchmark indices were fluctuating in a largely volatile stock market on Wednesday. The benchmarks rallied 3 percent – Sensex crossed 31,000-mark while Nifty went past 9,000-level in the morning trade–then paired all gains in the afternoon session and ended with a decline of 0.5 percent. The market ended the day’s trading in the red. The Sensex fell 173.25 points or 0.58 percent to 29893.96 while the Nifty was down 43.45 points or 0.49 percent at 8748.75 at close. TCS, Titan, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bharti Airtel and ITC were the major losers in the Sensex pack. The gainers included SunPharma, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Maruti and Hero MotoCorp As many as 1,478 shares advanced, 845 shares declined, and 156 shares remained unchanged. Most of the Asian peers retreated on Wednesday after a two-day rally as investors closely track developments in the coronavirus crisis. Investors also took into account the news that the lockdown in the country could be extended further considering rising cases in cities like Mumbai, Delhi and states. The scheduled OPEC meeting on Thursday to decide on a possible crude output cut also weighed on sentiments. Index heavyweight stock like TCS, SBI and RIL witnessed sharp sell-off. Sectorially, pharma index was the top gainer amongst Auto and Media index. Meanwhile, the banking, IT and metal index ended in red. Corona virus impact will continue to keep market volatile in the coming session [caption id=“attachment_8115531” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. News18[/caption] Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director, Choice Broking, said, “after seeing a relief rally in the previous session the market witnessed a volatility and ended on the lower side the Nifty was down 43.45 points or 0.49 percent at 8748.75. Daily momentum indicator RSI has given breakout of 40 level and reading at 43.35 and trading above it which suggests strength in the index. “The index managed to give a closing above 100&50 HMA which signifies buyers are active. Based on the above technical structure resistance comes at 9155. If index manages to give break out above the 9,155-level then we can see 9200 and 9600 levels with support of 8,600,” he said. Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking, told PTI that volatility in the markets was on account of speculation that the central government was mulling lockdown extension beyond 14 April. Further, traders said Indian markets moved in sync with global benchmarks as worries over the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continued to weigh on investor sentiment. Bourses in Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Seoul ended in the red, while Tokyo closed on a positive note. Benchmark exchanges Europe were trading around 2 percent lower in the morning session. Meanwhile, the rupee provisionally settled 70 paise lower at 76.34 against the US dollar. Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, slipped marginally to USD 31.85 per barrel. The death toll due to the novel coronavirus rose to 149 and the number of cases to 5,194 in the country on Wednesday, according to the Health Ministry. Global tally of the infections has crossed 14 lakh, with over 82,000 deaths. --With PTI inputs