The Indian benchmark indices ended lower for the second consecutive session amid selling in heavyweights. At close, the Sensex was down 102 points or 0.13 per cent at 80,502 and the Nifty was down 22 points or 0.09 percent at 24,509.
In the broader market at the BSE, the Mid-Cap index up by 1.27 percent, while the Small-cap index gained 0.83 percent.
14 out of 30 companies registered gains in the Sensex index. The top three gainers today were NTPC 2.58 percent, UltraCement 2.34 percent and HDFC Bank 2.15 percent.
Conversely, the three major laggards were, Reliance 3.46 percent, Kotak Bank 3.30 percent and ITC 1.75 percent.
In Sectoral Indices at the BSE, 13 out of 20 sectors logged gains. The top three gainers were, Power 1.66 percent, Capital Goods 1.52 percent and Commodities 1.43 percent. On the other hand, three major laggards were, Realty 0.53 percent, Energy 0.67 percent while FMCG and Bankex lost 0.27 percent each.
In the BSE, 174 Companies hit their 52 week high, 42 companies hit their 52 week low.
Major Asian indices traded in red except for Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, which gained 1.24 percent. Japan’s Nikkei, on the other hand, slipped 1.17 percent, South Korea’s Kospi index declined 1.16 percent, China’s Shanghai Composite index fell 0.61 percent, while Singapore’s Straits Times index slipped 0.30 percent. All three major European indices are trading in positive territory today. Germany’s DAX was up by 1.26 percent, France’s CAC climbed 1.22 percent, and London’s FTSE gained 0.75 percent, as of the latest reports.
Gold is trading lower today at Multy Commodity Exchange. The precious metal, for August contract, was down 0.14 percent to trade at 72,886 rupees per 10 Grams. Silver is also trading lower. For the September contract, it was down 0.93 percent to trade at 88,814 rupees per kilogram when reports last came in.
In the forex market, Indian rupee closed at 83 rupees and 66 paisa against US dollar. The Dollar index, which indicates its strength against a basket of six other leading currencies was down by 0.13 percent at 104.26.
Oil prices changed slightly today after Joe Biden announced he would not seek a second term as U.S. president, while investors watched for more signs that U.S. interest rates could be cut as early as September.
Brent crude decreased by 0.56 percent, to 82 dollars and 17 cents per barrel. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) is down by 0.64 percent, to 79 dollars and 62 cents per barrel, when reports last came in.