Sensex, Nifty End Choppy Session Slightly Lower

Indian shares ended a choppy session slightly lower on Thursday as investors reacted to Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s hawkish tone on prospects for early rate cuts as well as the interim budget statement presented in Parliament today, months ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Global cues were mixed after the Federal Reserve poured cold water on hopes for a cut in interest rates in March, citing ‘elevated’ inflation.

India’s manufacturing growth hit a four-month high in January, but another report showed the growth of eight key infrastructure sectors slowed to a 14-month low of 3.8 per cent in December 2023.

Meanwhile, the Interim Budget largely met expectations, with no populist measures ahead of the General Elections.

Especially, the fiscal deficit numbers of 5.8 percent in the revised estimates for FY24 and 5.1 percent for FY25 were better than the most optimistic expectations.

The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex ended the session down 106.81 points, or 0.15 percent, at 71,645.30, reversing early gains.

The broader NSE Nifty index settled 28.25 points, or 0.13 percent, lower at 21,697.45.

JSW Steel, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, UltraTech Cement, Larsen & Toubro and Grasim fell 2-3 percent in the Nifty pack while carmaker Maruti Suzuki soared 4.1 percent after delivering robust Q3 results.

Eicher Motors, SBI Life, Cipla and Power Grid Corp rallied 2-3 percent.

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