Sensex Sheds 398 Points On Profit Booking; August Inflation Data Eyed For Fresh Cues

According to the Head of Equity Research, Kotak Securities, Shrikant Chouhan, the benchmark indices on Wednesday witnessed profit booking at higher levels. Domestic stock indices climbed substantially on Monday and Tuesday, possibly following the inherent strength in domestic market fundamentals.

New Delhi: Domestic stock indices closed Wednesday trade in the red, dragged by a broad-based fall virtually in all the sectoral indices, particularly the media, metal, PSU bank, realty, oil and gas. Profit booking at higher levels also dampened investors sentiment, said analysts. At the closing, Sensex was at 81,523.16 points, down 398.13 points or 0.49 per cent, and Nifty 24,918.45 points, 122.65 points or 0.49 per cent.

"The domestic market experienced a minor consolidation in line with Asian peers due to correction of commodity prices... Market sentiment remained cautious due to the slowdown in the Chinese economy. Investors await the release of the US CPI and domestic inflation data," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Today, the benchmark indices witnessed profit booking at higher levels, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities. Domestic stock indices rose substantially on Monday and Tuesday, possibly due to inherent strength in domestic market fundamentals. Continued buying by foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) also somewhat cushioned the stock indices from a relative weakness in the US market.

Going ahead into this week, the markets will monitor both retail and wholesale inflation data for fresh cues. Breaching 5 per cent in June, the retail inflation rate in India softened drastically in July. According to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, retail inflation or Consumer Price Index in July was at 3.54 per cent.

Inflation has been a concern for many countries, including advanced economies, but India has largely managed to steer its inflation trajectory quite well. Barring the recent pauses, the RBI has raised the repo rate by 250 basis points cumulatively since May 2022 in the fight against inflation.

Later this week, investors are also likely to remain cautious ahead of the crucial US inflation report for August, which could influence the Federal Reserve's upcoming monetary policy decision.

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