Closing Bell: Headline indices end marginally lower, Nifty holds 17000

Domestic equity bourses started May on a weak note, tracking weakness in Asian markets after a sell-off in US shares, as investors now await the expected rate hike by the Federal Reserve later this week.

Indian equity market closed slightly lower but were off from its early lows on Monday. The headline indices took cues from the global market, where sentiment was weak as participants cautiously wait for the interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve this week. The US central bank is going to aggressively hike rates by 50 basis points (bps) on Wednesday. Owing to these developments, Indian indies ended on a flat note in the volatile session.

At the closing bell on May 2, the Sensex was down 84.88 points or 0.15% at 56,975.99, and the Nifty was down 33.40 points or 0.20% at 17,069.10. On the market breadth, around 1201 shares have advanced, 2180 shares declined, and 175 shares are unchanged.

Top Nifty losers of the day were Apollo Hospitals, Eicher Motors, Titan Company, Bajaj Auto and Wipro, while top gainers include IndusInd Bank, Coal India, Tata Steel, Power Grid Corporation and HDFC. In the top laggards, Eicher Motors was the top Nifty loser as the stock lost 3.43% to Rs 2,540.

On the sectoral basis, capital goods, auto and IT indices declined by 1% each. However, some buying was witnessed in the FMCG, metal, power and realty shares. In the broad markets, the BSE midcap index fell 0.47% and smallcap index shed 0.87%.

In other economic developments, domestic numbers like GST collection, auto sales numbers and Manufacturing PMI for the month of April gave a sense of an improving economic outlook for the country.

Indian stock market will remain shut on Tuesday due to Eid (Id-Ul-Fitr).