Sensex, Nifty Close Weak As Tech Stocks Fall

(RTTNews) - Key Indian stock indices Sensex and the Nifty50 pared early gains slowly drifted down into negative territory around noon on Wednesday and struggled for support thereafter and eventually ended the day's session on a weak note.

Stocks turned a bit weak despite oil prices drifting down sharply amid renewed optimism over reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

BSE's Sensex ended down 183.15 points or 0.24% at 77,472.94, after having climbed to 77,986.84 in early trades. The National Stock Exchange's Nifty50 settled with a loss of 126.80 points or 0.52% at 24,207.75.

Shares from automobile, technology, FMCG, realty and consumer durables sectors were among the notable losers. Shares from banking and metal sectors moved higher.

Tech stocks drifted lower weighed concerns about higher costs and margin pressure following the U.S. government's decision to pause visa appointments amid an immigration crackdown.

Infosys and Tech Mahindra closed lower by 1.9% and 1.4%, respectively. Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies both ended down by nearly 1%.

Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, Power Grid Corporation, NTPC, Mahindra & Mahindra and Reliance Industries lost 1%-1.9%.

Bharti Airtel, Nestle Industries, Shriram Finance, Bajaj Auto, Wipro, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises, Cipla, Tata Consumer Products, Eternal, Maruti Suzuki and Max Health also ended notably lower.

Kotak Bank climbed more than 3.5%. UltraTech Cement gained 1.9%. Axis Bank and Tata Steel ended up by 1.3% and 1.1%, respectively.

The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 2,375 stocks moved higher, while 1,944 stocks closed weak and 231 stocks ended flat.