Nifty Snaps 8-Day Winning Streak, Sensex Falls 119 Points, Broader Markets Outperform

Domestic equity benchmark indices traded largely flat throughout the session on September 15 before closing marginally lower. Investors turned cautious ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting later this week.

Nifty 50 snapped its 8-day winning streak to close at 25,069.20, down 44.80 points, or 0.18 per cent. Likewise, the Sensex snapped its 5-day winning streak to end in red at 81,785.74, down 118.96 points, or 0.15 per cent.

Broader market indices, however, edged higher, extending winning streak for the seventh straight day. The Nifty Midcap 100 gained 0.44 per cent, and Nifty Smallcap 100 rose 0.76 per cent. Nifty 500 advanced 0.11 per cent, extending its 11-day winning streak.

The volatility gauge India VIX advanced 2.77 per cent to 10.40,reflecting a mild rise in market uncertainty even as overall volatility remained low.

Realty Emerges Top Sectoral Gainer, Pharma, IT, Auto Drag

Nifty Realty emerged as the top sectoral gainer of the day, rising 2.41 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Energy, and Nifty Oil & Gas were other gainers, climbing between 0.30 per cent and 0.60 per cent. Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Bank, and Nifty Metal also ended the day in green.

On the other hand, Nifty Pharma and Nifty IT slipped 0.64 per cent and 0.58 per cent, emerging as the biggest sectoral loser of the session. Nifty Auto, Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Media and Nifty Consumer Durable also ended in red. Nifty FMCG closed flat with a slight negative bias.

Nifty 50 Top Gainers & Losers

Jio Financial Services, Bajaj Finance, Eternal (formerly Zomato), UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Auto, Reliance Industries, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel, and JSW Steel were the top gainers in Nifty 50.

On the other hand, Cipla, Mahindra & Mahindra, Asian Paints, Shriram Finance, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Titan, Infosys, and Eicher Motors were the top losers, falling in the range 1.11 per cent to 1.75 per cent.

Crude Oil Prices Today

Crude oil prices stayed flat to positive so far during the day. The Brent crude oil November futures traded $67.06 per barrel, up $0.07, or 0.09 per cent, and the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil October futures traded at $62.82 per barrel, up $0.13, or 0.21 per cent, as of 4:45 PM.

Gold Prices Today

Gold prices have been traded in the red during the day. Gold October futures on Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX) declined Rs 280, 0r 0.26 per cent to trade at Rs 1,09,090 per 10 grams.

Gold December futures traded at $3,678.50 per ounce, down $7.90, or 0.21 per cent.

Market Outlook

The US Federal Reserve's rate-setting panel Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is set to hold a meeting on September 16-17 to decide on interest rate's trajectory. Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments, said that although a 25-basis-point rate cut is mostly priced in, investors are looking for clarity on the future policy stance to assess the outlook for bond yields. If the Fed hints at more rate cuts, bond yields are likely to fall, which in turn, it could attract foreign inflows into emerging markets like India.

US negotiator Brendan Lynch is set to arrive in India tonight for the sixth round of trade talks beginning September 16. India and the US have been in a deadlock over trade deals. The US is seeking lower duties on farm goods and ethanol, and greater market access for dairy products, while India has opposed these demands to protect small farmers. India currently faces 50 per cent tariffs on export of its goods to US.

Meanwhile, India's wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rose 0.52 per cent year-on-year in August, recovering from a 0.58 per cent decline recorded in July, according to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry earlier today. The consumer price index (CPI)-based inflation in India climbed to 2.07 per cent in August, as against 1.61 per cent in July, according to data released by Ministry of Statistics last week.

Monthly inflation figures are a key input for the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in deciding its policy outlook. The RBI's Monetary Policy Committee is set to meet later in the month, between September 29 to October 1.