MUMBAI, OCT 14: Equity benchmarks declined for third consecutive session on Wednesday, dragged by technology, auto and FMCG stocks.
The Nifty managed to hold 8100-mark, supported by banking & financials, oil and metals stocks.
After resuming lower at 26,760.32, the 30-share BSE Sensex hovered in a range of 26,869.08 and 26,713.28 before ending at 26,779.66 — showing a loss of 66.87 points. The 50-share NSE Nifty also slipped 23.80 points to 8107.90 after shuttling between 8,096.35 and 8,139.30 intra-day.
Market sentiment, which was already muted on disappointing Q2 earnings by Infosys and TCS, got a further jolt after Hindustan Unilever (HUL) reported a decline of 2.62 per cent in standalone net profit.
Shares of FMCG major HUL ended 1.85 per cent down at Rs 797.40 after company reported a decline of 2.62 per cent in its standalone net profit to Rs 962.24 crore.
Besides, TCS yesterday reported a 16 per cent surge in net profit to Rs 6,084.66 crore for the second quarter.
The BSE Midcap also declined 0.3 percent but Smallcap outperformed, up 0.3 percent.
Among the BSE sectoral indices, IT fell by 1.32 per cent followed by Teck 1.16 per cent, auto 0.72 per cent and power 0.70 per cent while consumer durable rose by 1.41 per cent and healthcare 0.36 per cent.
The market breadth remained positive as 1,501 stocks ended in green, 1,265 closed in red while 137 ruled steady.
The total turnover rose to Rs 3,293.22 crore from Rs 2,779.08 crore yesterday.
