Nifty snaps four-day winning streak on account of profit booking

MUMBAI: Nifty snapped a four-day winning streak on Tuesday on account of profit booking, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

While the Nifty 50 closed the day with a loss of 49 points, or 0.22 per cent, at 22,356.30, the Sensex ended at 73,677.13, down 195 points, or 0.26 per cent.

India’s service PMI eased to 60.6 in February, dampening the sentiments, Khemka said.

Sector-wise, it was a mixed bag with buying seen in PSU bank, auto, and oil & gas stocks.

Meanwhile, the IPO market saw a stellar debut on Tuesday with Exicom and Platinum listing at a premium of 87 per cent and 33 per cent, respectively, he said.

The markets were also lackluster ahead of key US economy data such as US Service PMI to be released on Tuesdaay.

Further, investors are awaiting Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s congressional testimony to get some input on interest rates.

Overall, the markets are likely to consolidate in the near term with sectoral rotation amid key events lined up. Capital ghods, auto, PSU bank, and oil & gas will continue to remain in focus, he added.

Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said Nifty ended lower on Tuesday to snap four days of gains even after recovering from morning lows.

Cash market volumes on the NSE at Rs 0.95 lakh crore rose compared to the previous session. The Smallcap index fell more than the Nifty even as the advance decline ratio fell to 0.52:1.

PSU banks and auto shares rose, while IT stocks were trading on a weak note after the CLSA downgraded select stocks.