In early trading on Wednesday, the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty experienced declines, extending the losses seen on Budget day. The drop follows the government’s proposal to increase the securities transaction tax on futures and options. Additionally, foreign fund outflows and a weak trend in global markets contributed to the subdued performance of domestic markets.
The 30-share BSE Sensex fell by 233.7 points, reaching 80,195.34, while the NSE Nifty declined by 73.45 points, settling at 24,405.60. Among the major Sensex constituents, Hindustan Unilever saw a 3% drop after reporting a modest 2.2% rise in consolidated net profit to ₹2,612 crore for April-June FY25, affected by price reductions.
Other significant decliners included Bajaj Finance, Nestle, HCL Technologies, UltraTech Cement, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Adani Ports. Conversely, ITC, Tata Motors, Tech Mahindra, and NTPC were among the gainers.
On Tuesday, both key indices ended slightly lower in volatile trade due to the proposed increase in the securities transaction tax on futures and options as outlined in the Budget for 2024-25. The BSE benchmark closed down by 73.04 points or 0.09% at 80,429.04, and the Nifty fell by 30.20 points or 0.12% to 24,479.05.
VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, advised investors to focus on stocks that can offer superior returns in the current scenario, noting that FMCG stocks appear attractive from a valuation perspective.
Asian markets displayed mixed trends with Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong trading lower, while Shanghai recorded a gain. The US markets also ended marginally lower on Tuesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers, offloading equities worth ₹2,975.31 crore. Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose by 0.38% to USD 81.32 a barrel.
