Indian stock indices settle low in volatile trade

Indian stock market indices closed in the red on Thursday in a volatile trading session

New Delhi: Indian stock market indices closed in the red on Thursday in a volatile trading session. The indices were considerably higher in the morning.

Sensex and Nifty were 0.6-0.7 per cent higher at the time of day’s close.

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Cipla, Sun Pharma, Divi’s Laboratories, Hero Motocorp and Apollo Hospitals were the top gainers and on the other hand, M&M, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consumer products, Britannia and Nestle India were the top losers, NSE data showed.

The FOMC’s (US Fed) decision aligned with the market’s expectations as they implemented a 25bps hike and expressed a data-centric approach for future rate actions, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

Positive global sentiment prevailed due to the reduced prospects of a US recession. Despite this, the domestic market witnessed sharp corrections led by banks and autos, while pharma stocks performed on a positive start to their earnings season, said Nair.

To address the economy’s rising inflationary pressure, the US Federal Reserve has raised interest rates in a series of successive moves.The benchmark federal fund rate is currently between 5.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent, which is the highest level since 2001. The US Fed aims to attain maximum employment and inflation at a longer-term rate of 2 per cent.

Ajit Mishra, SVP-Technical Research, Religare Broking said, “We are in a (market) consolidation phase, so it is normal to see volatile swings. The key is to manage risk until the trend resumes.

Meanwhile, we feel it is prudent to restrict positions and use intermediate dips to gradually add quality stocks, said Mishra.