BENGALURU: Indian shares fell on Wednesday, snapping a six-session winning streak, dragged by information technology stocks on fading hopes of early U.S. interest rate cuts and energy stocks.
The NSE Nifty 50 fell 0.64% to 22,055.05, while the S&P BSE Sensex settled 0.59% lower at 72,623.09.
The Nifty 50 had gained as much as 0.24% in the first hour of trade to hit a record high for the third session in a row, before reversing gains in the final hours.
Nine of the 13 major sectors declined, with 37 of the Nifty 50 stocks logging losses.
Indian shares muted after five-session rally, tracking Asian peers
A likely delay in rate cuts is a sentimental negative for global equities and IT stocks, but strong domestic inflows kept Indian equities resilient over the last six sessions, said Atul Suri, chief executive at Marathon Trends PMS.
Suri also expects bouts of profit booking to continue in the next few sessions, as seen on Wednesday.
IT stocks shed 1.64%, extending its fall for the third straight session in the aftermath of hot U.S. inflation reading. The index has lost 2.78% in the three sessions.
Energy stocks fell 1.68% on the day after gaining about 50% over the last 16 weeks.
The broader more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps slipped 1.04% and 1.25%, respectively, underperforming the benchmarks.
Profit booking in “over-heated” sectors like energy and in the small- and mid-caps sub-indexes are healthy after their recent sharp rise, Suri added.
Media stocks tumbled 4.91%, led by about 15% slide in Zee Entertainment after a report that the market regulator found accounting irregularities, hours after the broadcaster denied it was attempting to salvage its failed merger deal with Sony India.
Investors now await the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting, due later in the day, for its rate outlook.
The Reserve Bank of India will release the minutes from its last policy meeting on Thursday.
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