Nifty drops 30 points on profit-taking, FMCG stocks battered

Macro-economic worries and concerns over corporate earnings triggered fresh bouts of selling as the benchmark CNX-Nifty fell 30 points and closed below the 6,000-mark at National Stock Exchange (NSE) today.

FMCG counters bore the maximum brunt of the sell-off followed by technology, metal, capital goods and select banking stocks.

After a firm start, the market failed to maintained the buying momentum as profit-taking at higher levels kept the key index under pressure. Though, there was no large-scale selling, shares traded in a narrow range in absence of any supportive cues.

However, volatility crept in the late afternoon trade leading to intense selling from market players. The overall sentiment is weak ahead of major macro data, including industrial production numbers (IIP) and inflation on Friday and the RBI's policy review on January 29, experts said.

IT major Infosys will declare its Q3 earnings on Friday. The December quarter is generally considered weak for technology companies.

Despite weak domestic sales, auto stocks attracted good buying interest with Tata Motors rallying by over 4 per cent. Oil & gas and pharma stocks, too, saw firm buying.

Globally, Asian markets closed mixed amid volatility as investors remained cautious over upcoming US corporate earnings, while European peers were trading firm.

The 50-share Nifty hit a high of 6,006.20 and a low of 5,958.45 before closing at 5,971.50, a loss of 30.20 points, or 0.50 per cent, over the last close.

BHEL, Tata Steel, Ambuja Cement, ITC, UltraTech, TCS, HeroMoto, Bajaj Auto, DLF and Bank of Baroda were the top laggards from the Nifty bunch. The smart movers included Tata Motors, GAIL, Coal India, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, SBIN, Sun Pharma, BPCL, M&M and Reliance.

Turnover in cash segment jumped to Rs 13,572.37 crore from Rs 11,900.44 crore yesterday. A total of 9,581.25 lakh shares changed hands in 64,20,908 trades. The market capitalisation stood at Rs 69,02,234 crore.

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