INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) benchmark
index Sensex closed 43 points lower at 34,906 on Wednesday, extending its losses to the second straight session
The NSE Nifty settled at 10,614, down 18 points
Domestic equities were under pressure tracking a selloff in global markets amid a political crisis in Italy
The Sensex and Nifty were dragged lower by energy, pharma and infrastructure shares
Also, cautious trade a day ahead of expiry of derivatives for May contracts was observed, say analysts.
Thirty two stocks on the 50-scrip Nifty index finished in the negative zone
Top losers on the Nifty 50 were HPCL, Hindalco Industries, Grasim Industries, Tata Motors and ICICI Bank, finishing between 1.7 per cent and
2.8 per cent lower.Pharma stocks declined, with the NSE's sectoral index Nifty Pharma finished more than 1 per cent lower
Laboratories declined 1.4 per cent.Oil refiners and retailers took a hit after Indian Oil Corporation marginally cut petrol and diesel
prices after 16 days of consecutive hikes
Shares in IOC and Bharat Petroleum Corp ended with losses of around 1 per cent each.However, downside in the markets was capped due to some
buying witnessed in banking stocks
state-run State Bank of India (SBI) settled 1.1 per cent higher while Yes Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 1.5 per cent each
HDFC Bank gained 0.8 per cent.Fortis Healthcare closed 1.1 per cent higher, a day after the company launched a new round of bidding for
The cash-strapped hospital operator's board is also scheduled to meet to approve quarterly results on Wednesday.In the global equity
markets, investors feared that repeat elections in the euro zone's third-largest economy - which could come as soon as July - may become a
de-facto referendum on Italian membership of the currency bloc and the country's role in the European Union
shares outside Japan tumbled 1.4 per cent.Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had net sold shares worth Rs
407.33 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net purchased shares worth Rs
578.38 crore on Tuesday, according to provisional data from the NSE.(With agency inputs)
