Mumbai: Nifty declined for the fifth day on Wednesday as the uncertainties associated with the Israel-Hamas conflict continued to weigh on the markets, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
At close, Nifty was down 0.83 per cent or 159.6 points at 19,122.2, while the Sensex tanked 522.82 points or 0.81 per cent to settle at 64,049.06.
The broad market indices fell largely in line with the Nifty, even as the advance decline ratio fell to 0.14:1.
China helped Asian stocks rise from 11-month lows on Wednesday, as investors cheered the approval of a trillion-yuan sovereign issue as a harbinger of stimulus.
European shares gave up early gains on Wednesday as investors digested a slew of mixed earnings reports from the region, while weakness in energy firms on lower crude prices added to the declines, Jasani said.
The Nifty IT and Nifty Realty were the top beaten down sectors, down by 1.03 per cent and 0.96 per cent, respectively, said Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio.
Due to the geopolitical escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, the markets are responding to the ongoing uncertainty. In addition to these, other factors such as rise in the dollar index, rise in bond yields, weaker than anticipated third quarter profit by major corporations, and changes in the price of crude oil — all contributed to market bearishness, Vidwani said.
Cipla, NTPC, Apollo Hospitals, and Adani Enterprises were the top Nifty losers, while Coal India, Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Tata Consumer Products, and SBI were among the the top gainers.
–IANS