Sensex slips 215pts amid volatility post repo rate hike; ITC, RIL weigh

The markets exhibited a high amount of volatility as the RBI hiked repo rate hike by 50 basis points. 

The key benchmark indices, which were woobly in early trades, rebounded into the positive zone led by fresh gains in financials and select other rate sensitives as the rate hike was on expected lines.  However, a fresh round of selling, in select index heavyweights, in the latter half of the day forced the benchmark indices to erase gains and slip back into the negative zone. 

The BSE Sensex swung in a range of 741 points on Wednesday. The index touched a low of 54,683 and a high of 55,424 before finally settling 215 points lower at 54,892. The NSE Nifty shut shop at 16,356, down 60 points.

Among the Sensex 30 stocks, Tata Steel, SBI, Dr.Reddy's, Titan, Maruti, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv ended with notable gains, while Bharti Airtel plunged over 3 per cent. ITC, Reliance Industries and Asian Paints were the other major losers.

Among the broader market, the BSE Midcap and the Smallcap indices also ended with minor losses. The breadth too was marginally negative.

Sectorally, the BSE Telecom index shed 1.6 per cent. The Energy and FMCG indices were down a per cent each. On the positive front, the BSE Realty index surged nearly 2 per cent. 

Among other individual stocks - MRPL soared over 9 per cent. The stock traded at its highest level since October 2018 and has more-than-doubled in the last two months. READ MORE

Bata India slipped 2.5 per cent after the promoter company reportedly recently divested 3.6 million shares or 2.8 per cent stake of the footwear company for nearly Rs 613 crore through open market transactions. READ MORE