Nifty falls 19 pts on continued selling, IT suffers heavy blow

Mumbai, Aug 17 (PTI) Global sluggishness along withdisappointing domestic macroeconomic data pulled down theNSE-benchmark Nifty by 19 points today as volatility continuedto rule for the second straight session. Uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the recent US Fedmeeting amid investor concern over lacklustre domesticindustrial output data and accelerating inflationary pressureskept sentiment uneasy. Technology was the weakest sectoral performer, impacted bythe RBS deal cancellation setback for Infosys. WPI-based inflation soared to 23-month high of 3.55 percent in July in line with consumer inflation, which also shotup to a two-year high of 6.07 per cent. However, midcap and smallcap stocks, which are seen asproxies to economic recovery, witnessed flurry of buyingactivity today. After a tepid start, key indices staged a smart rebound inlate afternoon trade on renewed buying interest in keyheavyweights. However, the recovery momentum failed to sustainat higher levels and retreated towards the close. Meanwhile, other bourses in the region ended fairly mixedas investors keenly awaited the Fed’s July policy minutes. Crude prices fell marginally after climbing to a six-weekintra-day high on hopes of an output freeze ahead of US oilinventory data release. The 50-share Nifty resumed marginally weak at 8,639.80 andhovered between 8,667.10 and 8,603.60 before concluding at8,624.05, registering a loss of 18.50 points, or 0.21 per centover its last close. Technology shares remained under immense selling pressurefor the third day after Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) cancelleda USD 300m contract with IndiaÂ’s second-biggest IT servicesfirm Infosys. The sector’s sub-index dropped another 1.68 per cent,followed by Energy (0.61 per cent), FMCG (0.24 per cent) andInfra (0.14 per cent). However, Metal surged 1.95 per cent, followed by Auto(0.92 per cent), Pharma (0.67 per cent), Realty (0.51 percent), PSU Bank (0.37 per cent) and Nifty Bank (0.21 percent). Small-cap and mid-cap too gained 0.82 and 0.69 per cent,respectively. Key laggards were TCS, Infosys, Reliance, Adani Ports,ITC, HUL, Asian Paints, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra, Wipro,Zee, ICICI Bank, Idea and Tech Mahindra. Notable gainers included HDFC Bank, HDFC, Axis Bank,Aurobindo Pharma, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, CoalIndia, Yes Bank, ONGC, Bharti Artel and Maruti. Turnover in cash segment fell sharply to Rs 19,018.91crore against Rs 21,571.91 crore on Tuesday. A total of 9,563.79 lakh shares changed hands in84,66,675 trades. The market capitalisation of NSE stood atRs 106,98,591 crore. PTI EDMABM