Ira Singh 
The Indian equity market continued their losing streak for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday, primarily weighed down by losses in heavyweight financials and IT stocks. Uncertainty surrounding domestic election outcomes and the timing of potential U.S. rate cuts further exacerbated the market downturn. At close, the Sensex was down 667.55 points or 0.89 percent at 74,502.90, and the Nifty was down 183.45 points or 0.80 percent at 22,704.70. Highlights of trade:
●Paytm up 5% on deal talks between Vijay Shekhar & Gautam Adani,
●Nuvama initiates buy coverage on Inox Wind,
●Hindalco up 2% after arm Novelis files 45 million shares in IPO,
●IRCTC drops 5% after Q4 PAT rises only 1.8% YoY,
●Campus Activewear shares rally 13% after Q4 results.
Hindalco, Power Grid Corp, Divis Labs, Nestle and Sun Pharma were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included HDFC Life, SBI Life Insurance, ICICI Bank, Tata Consumer Products and Tech Mahindra.
On the sectoral front,a mixed trend was seen with capital goods, telecom, healthcare, metal, power ending in the green, while auto, bank, FMCG, IT, oil & gas, and realty were down 0.3-1 percent.The BSE midcap index was down 0.4 percent while the smallcap index was up 0.2 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 29 May'24,the Indian rupee depreciated 21 paise to close at 83.39 against the US dollar on Wednesday, tracking a negative trend in domestic equities and elevated crude oil prices.Forex traders said dollar demand from importers and oil marketing companies (OMCs) also weighed on the rupee.
Trading Guide:
Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, reportedly quoted as saying,the nervousness in the market continues with uncertainty regarding the election results. An important sustaining trend during this uncertain phase is the continuous buying by DIIs which has reached around Rs 45000 crores so far this month. This can be interpreted as a reflection of expectation of political stability after the election results. However, it appears that retail and HNIs (High Net worth individuals)are in a wait and watch mode.
Market experts have recommended buying five buy or sell stocks for today — Hero MotoCorp, HDFC Life, Muthoot Finance, HCL Tech, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)
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