The Indian equity benchmark – Nifty extended its losses for the third consecutive day on Wednesday, weighed down by declines in IT and auto stocks. The index opened with a gap-down and traded under pressure, tracking a broader sell-off in global equities and a rise in oil prices amid escalating tensions in West Asia. In second half session, the index remained under pressure and ended more than half a percent lower as the RBI data showed that India’s current account deficit widened to $4.2 billion, or 0.5 per cent of GDP, in the first quarter of the current fiscal year from $3.4 billion, or 0.4 per cent of GDP a year ago. Traders overlooked exchange data that showed Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) returned to buying Indian equities on September 1, recording net purchases of Rs 1,143.38 crore.
Traders were seen piling up positions in Oil & Gas, Realty and PSU Bank stocks, while selling was witnessed in Auto, Media, and IT. The top gainers from the F&O segment were JSW Energy, Coal India and Tata Power Company. On the other hand, the top losers were Hero MotoCorp, Voltas and KEI Industries. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 24900 - 25100 calls and 22900 - 23100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.
