Mumbai: While the Sensex and Nifty snapped their three day winning streak following mild profit booking by cautious traders, the shares of state owned lenders were in demand on Wednesday. A committee appointed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) proposed that the government should cut its stake in public sector banks to below 50 per cent and establish fully empowered bank boards.
Amidst high level of volatility, the Sensex fell 56.11 points or 0.24 per cent to close the trading session at 23,815.12. On the other hand, the Nifty ended the day on a flat note at 7,108.75. According to market participants, traders and investors who missed the recent rally were seen picking up quality stocks in the cyclical sectors like capital goods, power and banking sector whereas those who had already invested heavily were seen booking some profits.
“The market would more or less behave in the same manner on Thursday ahead of the result announcements. Those who are holding large positions would take some profit off the table. Others who had missed the rally would try to invest in quality stocks. Additionally, defensive sectors like IT and pharma are expected to see some action as cautious investors would prefer to play it safe,” pointed out Uday Narayan Dubey, vice-president, institutional desk, R.K.Global.
Overseas investors continued with their aggressive bet on Indian equities. The provisional data from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,520.08 crore on Wednesday. In a highly volatile trading session banking sector stocks stole the limelight on Wednesday with the shares of Canara Bank and Central Bank of India soaring over 10 per cent on the BSE. Others like Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Union Bank of India also registered impressive gains by rallying over 8 per cent.
